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Brit expat woes increase as sterling dives again
| Published: | 30 Jul at 6 PM |
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The battered pound is now causing genuine hardship for British expats living in Europe and across the world, with gloomy predictions of further falls in the event of a Johnson-engineered no deal Brexit.
Over the past several years, the referendum itself, Brexit predictions and parliamentary chaos had already caused a drop in sterling versus the euro and other world currencies, but the selection of Boris Johnson as Britain’s prime minister has forced the currency to a two-year low due to his focus on a no deal Brexit. At this point in time, sterling has lost 15 per cent of its value before the Brexit referendum and is now the world’s worst-performing currency.
It’s not just affecting UK expatriates living, working or retiring in EU member states, with every world destination with a British expat community feeling its effect. Those managing on the none-too-generous British state pension are in the worst position, especially if inflation in the chosen country of residence is taken into consideration. In some favourite long-stay retirement countries formerly known as inexpensive, the exchange rate has dropped by as much as 50 per cent over the past decade and is expected to fall even further as Johnson trumpets his preposterous plans to drag Britain out of Europe in the worst possible way.
For retired expats living in Europe and elsewhere who just can’t take any more, the prospect of returning to the UK in order to access the NHS and other social services is now fraught with peril, as the economic damage of a crash out of the EU is becoming clearer and increasing day to day due to Johnson’s total ignoring of warnings by business leaders and economists. The choice of staying or returning used to be a personal one, but now it’s fraught with unanswerable questions as to the right decision.
Over the past several years, the referendum itself, Brexit predictions and parliamentary chaos had already caused a drop in sterling versus the euro and other world currencies, but the selection of Boris Johnson as Britain’s prime minister has forced the currency to a two-year low due to his focus on a no deal Brexit. At this point in time, sterling has lost 15 per cent of its value before the Brexit referendum and is now the world’s worst-performing currency.
It’s not just affecting UK expatriates living, working or retiring in EU member states, with every world destination with a British expat community feeling its effect. Those managing on the none-too-generous British state pension are in the worst position, especially if inflation in the chosen country of residence is taken into consideration. In some favourite long-stay retirement countries formerly known as inexpensive, the exchange rate has dropped by as much as 50 per cent over the past decade and is expected to fall even further as Johnson trumpets his preposterous plans to drag Britain out of Europe in the worst possible way.
For retired expats living in Europe and elsewhere who just can’t take any more, the prospect of returning to the UK in order to access the NHS and other social services is now fraught with peril, as the economic damage of a crash out of the EU is becoming clearer and increasing day to day due to Johnson’s total ignoring of warnings by business leaders and economists. The choice of staying or returning used to be a personal one, but now it’s fraught with unanswerable questions as to the right decision.
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