Sterling resumed its slide back towards historic lows against the US dollar despite efforts by the Bank of England and the Treasury to reassure markets on Monday, as investors expressed alarm about UK public finances. After the pound hit an all-time low earlier in the day, the Bank of England said it would not hesitate to “change” interest rates if needed to fight off inflation and the Treasury vowed to publish a new plan to tackle debt in November. The statements followed intense talks between Kwasi Kwarteng and BoE governor Andrew Bailey in the wake of the UK chancellor’s tax cutting, high borrowing fiscal plan presented late last week. But after the BoE said it would not assess the turbulence in UK financial assets until its next planned meeting in November — rejecting the prospects of an emergency rate rise — the pound dropped to under $1.07 from its high of the day of $1.0931. UK government bonds remained under heavy selling pressure. The bank said it would not “hesitate to change interest rates as necessary to return inflation to the 2 per cent target sustainably in the medium term, in line with its remit”. Financial markets had expected firmer action with an immediate rate rise or an accelerated schedule of meetings to shore up the pound. The BoE’s comment that action would come only after “a full assessment at its next scheduled meeting of the impact on demand and inflation from the government’s announcements” fell short.