| Currency | Rate Last
Week | Rate This
Week | | EURO | 1.269 | 1.280 | | US$ | 1.983 | 1.976 | | CAN$ | 2.016 | 2.010 | | AUS$ | 2.126 | 2.108 | | NZD | 2.537 | 2.523 | | AED | 7.286 | 7.256 | | CHF | 2.052 | 2.085 | | ZAR(Rand) | 15.096 | 14.948 | Charles's Thoughts: Sterling seems to be getting into a trend where it does well at the end of the week. I suppose its all relative as we are still a long way from where we were in the autumn of last year. UK manufacturing input and output prices rose to record levels in April. The feeling in the market is that this means the Bank of England will keep UK interest rates on hold at next weeks meeting as inflation will be their major concern. We wait and see. The US$ has been doing well [again all relative]. The Fed cut US interest rates, which was as expected. However the belief has grown that this could be the final cut, unless the US economy takes a dive, and as such the US$ gained support. The Fed outlook for the economy was less negative than previous announcements and inflation had come to the top of their agenda. Is the market seeing the US economy through rose tinted glasses? It may well be because there are still major economic problems. Economic data for Euro land continues to deteriorate and the market believe that the European Central Bank will have to cut Euro land interest rates in the near future or risk a sharper downturn in economic growth. I would be surprised though if we did see the ECB reduce interest rates any time soon because inflation seems to be the ECB's greatest concern and keeping interest rates at current levels helps control inflation. Given the strength of the German economy the € has the best economic fundamentals when compared to the US$ and sterling. The commodity backed currencies suffered against the US$ given its strength this week. Sterling lost a bit of ground but nothing unduly significant. 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: "Thank you for making our currency transactions go so smoothly. As promised, our account was opened within hours. Your trading team were pleasant and efficient, and each transaction was very much at the exchange rate I expected...ie much better than the tourist rate, not a million miles away from the inter-bank rates and certainly much better than my high street bank could quote. All in all, an easy experience and we will have absolutely no hesitation in recommending your services to any of our friends buying property abroad." Ian Pritchard 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
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