Corporate foreign exchange news
Foreign exchange market sees 'Maradona Effect'
Monday, 21 September 2009 09:09:29 GMT

Bank of England (BoE) governor Mervyn King is touting the 'Maradona Effect' as an effective way to stimulate corporate borrowing at low interest rates.The Financial Times reports that Mr King first identified the economic strategy four years ago, referring to the Argentine footballer's spectacular goal against England in the 1986 World Cup.At a City meeting in 2005, the BoE governor explained that although Maradona beat five England defenders to score the goal, he had actually been running in a straight line, with the opposing players simply reacting to his feints.Now, he is adopting this strategy with the announcement that the Bank may reduce interest rates on commercial bank deposits, a development which sent gilt yields to record lows and raised the possibility of lower corporate bond yields - and a concomitant drop in corporate borrowing costs.Mr King is betting that, like the five England defenders, the financial market will react to this feint in the desired fashion, eliminating the need for the BoE to actually change its course and reduce bank deposit rates, the Financial Times claimed.Investors and foreign exchange traders are also looking ahead to the publication of the September Monetary Policy Committee minutes due out on Wednesday (September 23rd) for clues to future BoE policy strategies.

