Markets need to price in no-deal Brexit risk: ECB's Villeroy

[April 02, 2019]  PARIS (Reuters) - Financial markets need to price in the growing risk that Britain could leave the European Union without a withdrawal agreement, ECB policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on Tuesday.

European Central Bank policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau, who is also governor of the French central bank, attends the Paris Europlace International Financial Forum in Tokyo, Japan, November 19, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo

British lawmakers failed on Monday to resolve the chaos around Britain's EU departure, leaving the future direction of Britain's exit from the bloc mired in confusion.

"Markets were betting as recently as yesterday that there would be a deal and they are going to need to price in the growing risk of a no deal, including on the value of the pound," Villeroy told French radio station BFM Business.

Villeroy, who is also head of the French central bank, added that the ECB stood ready to lend euros to British banks if necessary, and that the Bank of England was prepared to lend sterling.

(Reporting by Leigh Thomas and Myriam Rivet; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)

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