Luxembourg, June 11: Britain's new foreign secretary Jack Straw said on Monday his government’s wait-and-see approach to swapping the pound for Europe’s single currency was unchanged despite media reports that he is less enthusiastic than his predecessor about joining the euro.

“We set out very clearly our position on the euro ... The position remains unchanged,” Mr Straw said on arriving for his first meeting with other EU foreign ministers.

Mr Straw replaced Mr Robin Cook as foreign secretary in a cabinet reshuffle announced by Prime Minister Tony Blair after his landslide re-election on Thursday.

Mr Blair has said he will hold a referendum on joining the EU currency bloc when he judges the British economy is ready, but polls show British public opinion is firmly against dropping the pound. Meanwhile according to a Bloomberg report from London, the British pound, which has declined 2.3 per cent against the dollar this month, rose from near a 15-year low as investors bet the government won’t make an early attempt to adopt the euro. Sterling rose to 1.3867 dollar from 1.3795 late Friday, when it touched 1.3775 dollar, the lowest since Feb 4, 1986. Against the euro, it rose to 61.25 pence, compared with 61.60. The UK currency has dropped 2 per cent against the dollar.

The pound dropped in recent days on speculation that Prime Minister Tony Blair may use his Thursday election victory to push for early entry to the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). It’s now more likely the government will wait until autumn to make an announcement, investors said.

Many investors and businesses have said joining the euro would mean the pound would have to shed as much as 20 per cent to ensure the competitiveness of UK exporters.

-- Reuters