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The ill winds of Brexit sent Sterling into stormy waters and it has taken a further battering since Boris Johnson became prime minister.
The British currency has fallen against the euro every year since the Brexit referendum in 2016. It is now worth some 15 per cent less than before the vote.
It has been a chastening experience for British expats, in Cyprus and around the globe, who have taken pride in the fact that a pound has traditionally bought more than one unit of most other currencies.
Now analysts are worried that the world’s fourth most traded currency could fall to parity against the euro and dollar.
Capital Economics, the international financial analysts, forecast last week that the pound would fall to 1.05 euros if there is a no-deal Brexit and gloomier forecasters have predicted a slide that will take it under the eurozone’s currency.
That would be extreme, indeed, and I do not envisage such a steep decline, in the short term at least. Nevertheless, it seems certain that there will be continued slippage.
Uncertainty surrounds most aspects of Brexit and uncertainty that is one of the factors depressing Sterling. But no matter how the bigger game plays outs, it is hard to see the pound going any way but down.
If you are an expat relying on an income paid in pounds this is obviously bad news.
It’s bad news, too, if you work with a Cyprus-based company selling into the UK.
But for some, the ill wind has blown good. If you are an expat paid in euros and you visit the UK frequently, then this decline in the pound will have been welcome.
It is also a bonus for anyone thinking of bringing savings back to the UK and for anyone planning to buy property there.
But these are exceptions. The falling pound is a blow to the living standard of most British expats.
Pensioners are the biggest group of Britons living in other EU countries and the currency’s slide has added to greater worry about whether their state pensions will be up-rated annually.
At the moment, UK citizens who live in the European Economic Area (and Switzerland) have their state pensions pegged to wage or price inflation.
After Brexit, the UK government will have to decide whether this will continue or whether UK pensioners living in EU countries should be treated as if they retire to Canada, for example, where their pensions are frozen.
State pensions are governed by a mutual arrangement between the UK and the rest of the EU. The pensions themselves are not at risk, but their indexing is now likely to form part of the renegotiation process.
Under the deal negotiated by Theresa May, there would have been almost two years to sort out this kind of thing. A no-deal Brexit makes it uncertain.
A recent survey showed that a majority of expats expect an economic downturn in the UK following a no-deal outcome, but only just under half of the respondents had made plans to limit its impact on their finances.
The advent of Boris Johnson as the new PM has upped the numbers of concerned expats, with the majority now seeing a no-deal exit as inevitable, according to the YouGov survey, commissioned by the online currency platform CurrencyFair.
A majority of those surveyed expected their personal finances to take a hit due to currency exchange rates and inflation.
Some 17 per cent said they were saving cash and 20 per cent were determined to transfer all their funds from the UK should a no-deal Brexit take place.
If you are an expat with these concerns, you should seek professional advice. I must declare an interest here – my company, the Woodbrook Group, are international financial advisers and we would, of course, like to welcome you to our client list.
Wherever you turn for advice, make sure it is from fully qualified and impartial professionals.
The Woodbrook Group is not owned by any financial institution or life insurance company and can offer you unbiased advice. We offer a free pension review to help clients plan for the future.
We can’t prevent the rise and fall of currencies, but we can help you understand your options and how to address your income needs.
