Britons are not only having to contend with a pound falling to near parity with the euro and hitting multi-year lows against the dollar, they are also now being weighed down with change.
The country has long been one for coinage. The smallest note is for five pounds, which earlier this year was worth about $10 and is now around a mere $6.50. No equivalent of the paper dollar and hence lost of change.
Now, however, pockets are filling up with more pennies than usual, courtesy of one of Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s economic stimulus plans. Brown cut 2.5 percent off value-added tax. So now a £3.50 film rental costs £3.41 and a $2.15 coffee is £2.09. Lots of increasingly worthless coppers floating around — unless of course deflation joins the party.
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