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Breakdown of the latest developments on the global exchanges
Aug 23, 2019, 12:00 PM GMT
#Economy

Boris Johnson’s First Official Overseas Visit Concludes with a Defeat

The new Prime Minister of Great Britain just finished his 2-day visit to Berlin and then Paris, where he attempted to pressure Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron into giving him concessions over the Brexit trade deal. His initial enthusiasm was quickly dismissed, however, as the European leaders gave him no reasons to expect any transformational changes in the bloc's original proposition to the UK.

Boris Johnson was hoping that he would be able to persuade the two leaders to ease up on the EU Commission's requirements for the UK, particularly their demand for a Backstop to the Irish Border. The PM appeared adamant earlier last week when he argued that a hard landline border between the UK and the EU post-Brexit is of imperative importance.

While Angela Merkel appeared somewhat more willing to cooperate with Johnson’s cabinet on the condition that he expresses eagerness to compromise on some points as well, the French President Emmanuel Macron quickly retorted to the question of the Irish Border by saying that it is almost impossible for the EU to significantly amend its original proposal, which took several months to comprise while Theresa May was in office, in a little over a month.

Thus, the Brexit deadlock continues to prevail, and it would appear that the UK would most likely crash out of the bloc on October 31st without a trade deal. Meanwhile, the GBPUSD pair managed to appreciate with 1.09 per cent during Thursday’s trading session, which was the single biggest daily hike since May 3rd; however, the overall sentiment remains to be noticeably bearish.