Black Wednesday

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This article is part of a series about John Major
Electoral history MP for Huntingdon 1990 budget Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Premiership First Ministry and Term 1990 leadership election Cabinet Citizen's Charter Charter Mark Cones Hotline Early 1990s recession Gulf War 1992 general election Second Ministry and Term Cabinet Black Wednesday National Lottery Further and Higher Education Act 1992 Grant-maintained schools Maastricht Treaty rebels Northern Ireland peace process Downing Street mortar attack Downing Street Declaration 1993 reviews of the British honours system Council Tax Child Support Agency 1993 vote of confidence Back to Basics Privatisation of British Rail Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 1995 Conservative Party leadership election The Cullen Reports Cash for Questions Committee on Standards in Public Life Arms-to-Iraq affair Scott Report United Kingdom BSE outbreak Wirral South by-election Resignation Honours Bibliography More Than a Game
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Black Wednesday, or the 1992 sterling crisis, was a financial crisis that occurred on 16 September 1992 when the UK Government was forced to withdraw sterling from the (first) European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM I), following a failed attempt to keep its exchange rate above the lower limit required for ERM participation. At that time, the United Kingdom held the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The crisis damaged the credibility of the second Major ministry in handling of economic matters. The ruling Conservative Party suffered a landslide defeat five years later at the 1997 general election and did not return to power until 2010. The rebounding of the UK economy in the years following Black Wednesday has been attributed to the depreciation of sterling and the replacement of its currency tracking policy with an inflation targeting monetary stability policy.^[1][2]