Exchange Rate Now!

While most major economies are trying to revive themselves from the financial crisis which shocked the world in Oct 2008, another mini-crisis occurred recently when President Obama mooted plan to further control and constrict major financial institutions (Banks and Hedge funds) for reaching a critical size that will enable them to weld substantial market influence.

Another spanner was thrown by Greece recently, howbeit it only affects the Euro zone.

One of the countries in Europe which had already adopted the Euro as the national currency, Greece financial stability came under scrutiny recently due to concerns if the Greek government can actually pay off the national debt and guarantee the levelling of government bonds.

Things cumulated into a jittery forex trading market on 28th Jan 2010 when a sell-off of Euro began, enabling forex traders who punt on the US Dollar smiling all the way to the bank (more…)

There has never been such a spotlight on Albanian Lek (ALL) as in recent weeks. With the Lek tumbling some 3% against the Euro in Sep 2009, forex traders are nervously sitting at the end of their seats wondering if Albanian Central Bank may just give up on the Lek and advise a switch to the Euro.

The Albanians themselves are asking the same question. After all, the Albanian currency has been under harsh pressure during the whole of 2009, due mainly to high government expenditures and low levels of remittances (the Albanian Leke value diminished by some 12 per cent since January 2009). Being a nation in Europe, it makes perfect sense for Albania to make the switch to Euro. A look at the (more…)

New Zealand is often viewed as a country with slow growth – where things are made or grown rather than an interesting country of bright ideas and high productivity. As such, the general consensus in the early 1990s is for the New Zealand Dollar (also known as the “Kiwi”) to continue a long term depreciation against currencies of more “interesting” origin, like the Japanese Yen, the US Dollar and even the Australian Dollar.

Indeed, between year 1996 – 2000, the New Zealand dollar depreciated from 1 USD = 1.41 NZD to an exchange rate of 1 USD = 2.5 NZD, a steep 44% decline. The depreciation trend has since reversed over the years. For a while, it seems like things are not as gloomy for the New Zealand Dollar as predicted – until the financial crisis which started in Oct 2008 rocked the stability of the New Zealand dollar again.

From a rate of 1 USD = 1.49 NZD just before the start of the financial crisis in Sep 2008, the New Zealand Dollar depreciated to 1 USD = 1.94 NZD in Feb 2009. This represents a Hugh swing of 35% drop in value of the New Zealand Dollar. Fortunately for most New Zealanders, their national currency has rebounded back to a current level of 1 US Dollar compared to 1.44 New Zealand Dollar.

While most currency and forex traders attribute this trading trend as consistent with other major currencies (where an increased risk appetite from a global economy recovery (more…)