Sterling stuck at 3-week lows as Brexit noise grows

(Adds more comment, new 3-week low to dollar)

By Patrick Graham

LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) - Sterling dipped to a three-week low against the dollar on Monday after comments by leading Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson added to an increasingly fraught debate over Britain's membership of the European Union.

With (Other OTC: WWTH - news) most major currencies steady, the pound fell to $1.4333, inching past lows hit on Friday after a batch of stronger economic data out of the United States boosted the dollar.

Compared to the previous close, it was also down 0.1 percent at 78.87 pence per euro.

Former London Mayor Johnson, whose decision in February to join the "Out" campaign for the June EU referendum drove sterling as low as $1.38, has hit the headlines several times since starting a 'battle bus' campaign last week.

He said in an interview over the weekend that the EU was following the path of Adolf Hitler and Napoleon by trying to create a European superstate, drawing criticism from one political opponent that he had "lost his moral compass".

Jacob Rees-Mogg, a Brexit-backing Conservative member of the parliamentary committee which scrutinises the Bank of England, has also added to jitters by saying the bank's governor, Mark Carney, should be fired for a warning Carney made last week over the short-term costs for Britain of leaving the EU.

"Meetings with senior political and business leaders this week suggest to us that there remains a sense of complacency on the assumption that voters will 'see the light' and 'do the rational thing' by voting to remain," said Mark Dowding, Co-Head of Investment Grade Debt at BlueBay Asset Management.

"We are becoming aware that voter turnout rates will likely be much higher amongst potential 'leave' voters than 'remain' voters, meaning there is a risk that the UK could 'sleep-walk' into Brexit with as little as 25 percent of the voting population actually casting a vote to do so."

The pound has recovered solidly since falling 7 percent in the first months of the referendum campaign, but it dipped after Carney's warning last Thursday that the June 23 poll posed the most significant risk to the Bank's growth forecasts.

There was little immediate impact from the latest round of warnings from political and business leaders on Monday of the risks to the economy.

"After some swings in the past month or so our short-term model shows the pound has fallen back to fairly valued after appearing expensive a few weeks ago," said Michael Sneyd, a currency strategist with BNP Paribas (LSE: 0HB5.L - news) in London.

"Any swings in the polls could be the trigger for the next move."

In its quarterly inflation report, the BoE said sterling could weaken and unemployment would probably rise after a vote to leave the EU. Carney said that a "technical recession" was possible but was not the most likely scenario.

"The move in spot (on Friday) ... was a stark reminder of how vulnerable the pound can be to sentiment in the next few weeks," analysts from South African bank Investec (LSE: INVP.L - news) said in a note.

Eikon readers can click cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=brexit for the latest news and analysis on the EU referendum. (Editing by Catherine Evans and Gareth Jones)