The pound fell to a 12-day low against the dollar on Wednesday, ahead of a Bank of England meeting on Thursday where monetary policymakers will try to quantify the impact of the coronavirus on the world's fifth largest economy.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that his government would set out details of its plan to ease a lockdown against the coronavirus on Sunday, hoping that some measures could come into force the next day.

Britain has been slower than other European countries to lay out plans to reopen its economy.

The pound did not move significantly when the data was announced at 08:30 GMT. But between around 07:20 GMT and 08:35 GMT, cable fell 0.7%, hitting a 12-day low of $1.2359, a move which analysts said had no specific trigger. Against a stronger dollar, the pound was last at $1.2363, down 0.6% since New York’s close. Versus the euro it was down around 0.2% at 87.345.

Source : Reuters