LONDON, March 1 Reuters Sterling edged higher against both the euro and the dollar on Monday as a swift coronavirus vaccine roll out supported the pound and fuelled hopes of economic recovery.

After retreating from a threeyear high on Friday to fall below 1.39 amid a rout in global bond markets and concerns of inflation risks, sterling rose as high as 1.3999 in Asian trading.

In early London trading, it was 0.1 higher at 1.3938 by 0933 GMT as investors bet a vaccination programme would help lift the British economy.

Versus the euro, sterling rose 0.4 to 86.34 pence, after falling to 87.30 on Friday.

Britain reported on Sunday that more than 20 million people have received a first dose of a COVID19 vaccine, while cases last week were down 21.2 compared with the previous sevenday period, and deaths were down 33.5.

British finance minister Rishi Sunak is set to announce an extra 1.65 billion pounds to fund the countrys vaccination rollout as part of his annual budget statement on Wednesday.

Developments have yet again looked positive for sterling, with 20 million of the UK population having now received their first vaccine at a minimum and reports that fiscal stimulus will remain supportive in Wednesdays budget, said Simon Harvey, senior FX Market Analyst at Monex Europe.

Sunak will also announce 5 billion pounds of additional grants to help businesses hit hard by pandemic lockdowns, the government said on Saturday.

Editing by Kirsten Donovan

Source Reuters