Dollar drops on US govt shutdown

The US dollar has fallen in value against its rivals today (October 1st), after the country's government went into shutdown mode.

After Congress failed to agree a new budget deal, the dollar fell to an eight-month low against the euro, reports BBC News.

The greenback also slipped to a one-and-a-half year low against the Swiss franc, fell back against the pound and dropped in value against the yen.

Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, told BBC News that investors are concerned Congress will not reach a deal before the debt ceiling deadline on October 17th.

"The longer this goes unresolved, the closer it takes us to the October 17th debt ceiling, when there is no money to pay bills including sovereign debt – debt default is an altogether different issue," he said.

Congress has been unable to reach agreement over US president Barack Obama's plans to introduce universal healthcare insurance for American citizens.

Mr Obama later tweeted: "They actually did it. A group of Republicans in the House just forced a government shutdown over Obamacare instead of passing a real budget."

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