Traders make bearish bets on sterling

COPENHAGEN - Futures traders are more bearish than ever on sterling amid concern that the currency's worst annual start in 13 years will continue as the United Kingdom's budget deficit approaches the Greek shortfall that roiled the euro.

Wagers on the pound weakening against the dollar outnumber futures that profit on a rise by eight times more than when George Soros made $1 billion betting against the currency in 1992, the year Prime Minister John Major's Conservative government was forced to withdraw from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. Sterling fell 19 percent that year.

The pound has lost 6.2 percent in 2010 on speculation a budget gap will skewer the currency: Either record borrowing will push debt costs higher and force policymakers to print more money to buy bonds, or lawmakers will cut spending too fast and trigger a new recession. Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government estimates the deficit will hit 12.6 percent of gross domestic product, almost as high as the 12.7 percent in Greece that drove European leaders to consider a bailout.