Investing.com - The pound remained lower against the dollar on Tuesday after data showing that U.K. government borrowing unexpectedly increased last month, while expectations for higher interest rates continued to underpin dollar demand.
The Office for National Statistics said British public borrowing rose to £12.1 billion in August from £10.7 billion a year earlier.
It was the widest budget deficit for the month of August since 2012 and was well above economists' forecasts of £9.0 billion.
GBP/USD was down 0.18% to 1.5479, little changed from 1.5477 ahead of the data.
The dollar remained firm after comments by some Federal Reserve officials overnight indicated that a U.S. rate hike is still on the cards this year.
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard and Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart indicated in separate remarks that the U.S. central bank is still likely to raise short-term interest rates this year.
Investors were looking ahead to a speech by Fed Chair Janet Yellen later in the week for additional clarity on the bank’s decision last week to leave interest rates on hold.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was last at 95.97, after rising 0.66% on Monday.
The pound was also weaker against the euro, with EUR/GBP last up 0.29% to 0.7234.