| Currency | Rate Last
Week | Rate This
Week | | EURO | 1.380 | 1.336 | | US$ | 1.985 | 1.973 | | CAN$ | 1.973 | 1.973 | | AUS$ | 2.287 | 2.259 | | NZD | 2.588 | 2.571 | | CHF | 2.292 | 2.181 | | ZAR(Rand) | 13.940 | 13.579 | Charles's Thoughts: Sterling seems to have no friends. Has Gordon Brown finally been found out? The UK has both a balance of payment and a budget deficit both of which need to be funded. With UK interest rates falling this is proving to be somewhat difficult and it is very difficult to gauge where the bottom is for sterling against certain currencies, especially the Euro. Christmas retail sales have been mixed at best, the housing market is suffering and the credit crunch is still of concern. The markets have started to think that UK interest rates may fall by as much as 1% this year. Only a short while ago the market was predicting a reduction of 0.5%. The US$ has been steady over the Christmas period. Similar to the UK the US has significant economic problems to overcome and like the UK, the US interest rates are expected to fall. So although the US$ may hold its own against sterling it will have difficulty against other currencies. The markets are of the view that sterling will have difficulty in gaining any ground against the US$. The Euro is still very much the preferred currency. It has gained over 10% against sterling since this time last year. Over the Christmas period the Euro gained four cents against sterling. Inflation continues to be of concern to the European Central Bank and so any cuts in Euro interest rates are very unlikely short to medium term. In fact the market wonders if Euro interest rates will be increased given the ECB's concerns over inflation. But the Euro land economies are not a bed of roses and are not immune to problems elsewhere. Euro land exports are becoming expensive and uncompetitive. I don't know where the bottom is for sterling against the Euro but even with sterling's problems the fall in sterling against the Euro will not go on for ever. As noted above sterling is fairly friendless. Certain currencies have not made significant gains against sterling as there is a risk aversion to high interest rate currencies such as the New Zealand dollar. Why is Currency Management So Important? Using a bank could cost you £3-4,000 per £100,000 transferred. Buying at the "wrong" time could cost you many £'000's more as rates can move as much as 3% in a very short period of time. Then add in transfer costs that the banks charge for sending and receiving funds and you could be looking at additional costs of £10,000 per £100,000 transferred. By developing a currency strategy and by working with a specialist currency broker these losses could be minimised if not eliminated. Smart Client Testimonial: "Recent transaction was completed very efficiently. The process was well explained, all questions answered with confidence. The process was very simple to follow with excellent feedback throughout the process. Plus a great rate of exchange was provided. I will definitely use the service again" John Derek Thompson If you haven't opened a Smart account yet, call me on freephone 0808 163 0102 or fill out our online Account Form at: http://www.SmartCurrencyExchange.com/application.htm How much will a Property Cost? To estimate the cost of a property simply DIVIDE the price of the property by the appropriate currency rate noted above. But note this is based on the inter bank rate so the actual cost will be slightly more. 
Charles Purdy
Smart Resources Currency Strategy Worksheet
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http://www.smartcurrencyexchange.com/downloads/CurrencyStrategyWorksheet.pdf Currency Report
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