Brexit battle on knife edge in last 48 hours

AFP: Financier George Soros warned of a Black Friday plunge in sterling if Britain votes to quit the EU as new polls showed a razor-tight race 48 hours ahead of the referendum. The man who made a fortune by betting against the pound in the so-called Black Wednesday of September 1992 said that a rejection of the European Union would deliver a major financial shock.

Britain, the world’s fifth-biggest economy, would be the first state to leave the EU since the bloc’s founding 60 years ago if the “Leave” camp wins in Thursday’s vote. The prospect of a Brexit has raised fears of a worst-case domino-effect collapse of the European project, born out of a determination to ensure peace on the continent after two world wars. “Sterling is almost certain to fall steeply and quickly if ‘Leave’ wins the referendum,” Soros wrote Tuesday in The Guardian newspaper. “I would expect this devaluation to be bigger and also more disruptive than the 15 percent devaluation that occurred in 1992,” the Hungarian-born US billionaire predicted. “A vote to leave could see the week end with a Black Friday, and serious consequences for ordinary people.” Hong Kong investment titan Li Ka-shing, one of Asia’s richest men, gave his first interview with international media in four years to say a Brexit would hurt the whole of Europe. “Of course I hope that the UK doesn’t leave the EU,” he told Bloomberg television. World financial markets, which rallied the previous day following opinion poll gains by the “Remain” camp, traded cautiously Tuesday as new surveys showed the race is tight. In polls released overnight, two placed the “Remain” side narrowly ahead while a third indicated the “Leave” camp could prevail. The websites of six major bookmakers showed the odds heavily pointing to a “Remain” vote, with the chances of Britain staying in put at nearly 80 percent.