THE pound has hit fresh highs against the deutschmark promoting further Central Bank intervention. The pound traded as high as DM2.64 before falling back to DM2.6377 from DM2.6322 on Friday. At the same time it fell back to 97.68p against sterling from 97.89p. Despite the intervention the pound traded at over 10 per cent above the lowest currency in the ERM grid - the French franc.

While other currencies are also coming under pressure in the system, the pound is out on a limb. The Finnish marka and the Portuguese escudo have both appreciated significantly but the hardcore of currencies likely to join monetary union are remaining within about 1 per cent of each other.