The future of the pound in an independent Scotland has been a central part of the debate in the lead up to the 18 September referendum. Scotlands first minister, Alex Salmond, insists the country will continue to use the pound if it votes for independence. But all three main political parties at Westminster have said an independent Scotland would not be allowed to continue to use sterling.
Up until this week, financial markets had seemed pretty convinced that Scotland would vote against independence and the upcoming referendum made little impact on either share prices or the pound. All that changed on Tuesday, when a poll suggesting a surge in support for the yes campaign acted as a wake-up call that the vote could be much closer than investors had been pricing in. There was a rush to insure against potential swings in the currency as its future role was called into question by the YouGov poll showing the yes campaign needed only a three-point swing to win the independence referendum.
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