The UK's official currency, the fourth most-traded globally, whose value signals the market's confidence in British fiscal and monetary policy.
The UK's central bank, founded 1694 and granted independence in 1997, sets UK interest rates and supervises its financial system, making its rate decisions a global bond-market variable.
full dossier ›Sterling-denominated UK government bonds issued by HM Treasury, the mechanism that funds Britain's annual deficit and refinances its nearly £3 trillion debt stock.