Barcap, the securities arm of Barclays, predicted that the British pound will be the top performing major currency in 2011.

In a report to clients the firm predicted the pound will rise to 1.82 against the U.S. dollar and to 0.78 versus the euro by the end of next year.

Barclays also issued a bullish forecast on equities, as The Telegraph reported that Edmund Shing, head of European equity strategy, stated that “The FTSE is a major play on global demand.  You don’t have to look very far to find exposure, whether directly through miners and food producers, or indirectly through the oil companies.”

Shing also pointed to the austerity measures of David Cameron’s coalition government, which is “enacting deep structural reform in order to take a lump out of the deficit, which is a risk,” but “could ultimately be good for the structural growth story in the UK.”