U.S. stocks snapped a five-day losing streak on Thursday (Jun 16), rising despite worries about next week’s British vote on whether to leave the European Union. “We have to remain”, he added.
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Merkel added that “of course, that decision is up to the citizens of Great Britain”.
Europe must be realistic about the possibility that Britain will exit the European Union, Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Thursday, citing recent opinion polls that show a majority of Britons supporting such a move.
British voters will decide on June 23 whether to stay in the EU.
He added, however, that he didn’t think the European Union will be “in danger of death” if Britain goes.
When undecided voters were excluded, 52 percent backed leave, compared to 48 percent for remain, Survation said.
An IPSOS-MORI poll for London’s Evening Standard newspaper showed 53% would vote to leave next Thursday and bookmakers now put the odds of a decision that would send a shockwave through global financial markets at nearly 40%.
Polling expert John Curtice said the race was now too close to call.
The minutes to the Bank of England’s last policy meeting show the rate-setters are anxious about the economic and market repercussions of a British vote to leave the European Union next week.
Asian and European markets sank on Thursday following a warning by US Federal Reserve boss Janet Yellen that a Brexit could have consequences for global financial markets and the US economic outlook. It was also 0.25 percent higher against the euro at 78.82 pence pence per euro. They say leaving the European Union would boost the economy.
A spokesman for Vote Leave declined to comment.
Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, is among a raft of economists and senior figures from global organisations such as the IMF to have warned of the economic risks of a Brexit.
In an article in The Times newspaper, the prime minister accused those backing “Leave” of “playing fast and loose” with readers’ financial future “for their political ends”.
Paul Kahn, president of Airbus Group in the United Kingdom, told The Independent: “We do not support leaving the European Union, and our position is widely known …”
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“The battle bus that Boris was on is turning back to London”, he told AFP, referring to lead campaigner Boris Johnson, the Conservative former mayor of London.
