By Angela Monaghan Last Updated: 6:59PM GMT 19 Dec 2008  A one euro coin is pictured alongside a British one pound coin. Photo: BLOOMBERG NEWS  The pound gained one cent against the single currency, but was down 4pc – or 4.5 cents – over the week as a whole.  Gains made against the dollar earlier in the week were eroded, with the pound closing down 4 cents at $1.4918, slightly lower than last week's close of $1.4923. Sterling also finished the week at its lowest-ever level against a basket of currencies.  As the spotlight remained on the pound's weakness, the Prime Minister insisted at his monthly news conference that he would not start focusing on the currency's daily movements.  "We do not have a policy that is directed towards a particular level of the exchange rate. The day-to-day movements of the pound are not something I think is worth giving a running commentary on," he said.  The pound has been hammered over fears that the UK economy will be hit particularly hard by recession, and by the expectation that interest rates will be lower in the UK than in Europe.  Summing up another gloomy week for the UK economy, the Centre for Economics and Business Research said yesterday: "Sterling edged closer to parity with the euro this week as poor UK unemployment results and pessimistic Monetary Policy Committee meeting minutes were released,"  The statement came as the Bank of England said that it would hold further dollar repo auctions for both one-month and three-month money in February and March. The move is part of a co-ordinated action with the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank.  However, the UK central bank noted that demand has been falling as liquidity conditions improve. "In the UK, there has been declining participation in the US dollar repo operations recently, as access to dollar liquidity in the market has improved. The Bank will continue to conduct dollar repo operations, including its weekly tenders, as long as necessary but will keep them under review if market conditions continue to improve," it said.  In a further sign that money-market conditions could be easing, the interbank lending rate fell for three-month loans in sterling, dollars, and euros.
Sterling recovered some ground against the euro on Friday but still ended the    week near to parity at &euro;1.0707.