Sterling under pressure again

Posted by admin on 22 January, 2009 under Business news | Read the First Comment

The British pound is coming under pressure again on the currency markets as investors dump the pound in favour of currencies like the Euro and the US Dollar!

Sterling has dropped to the following rates:

One UK Pound will get you just $1.37 in the USA – this is great for the travelling American so they can come to visit our shops like we did when the rate hit over $2 to the Pound!

One UK Pound will get you €1.06 – which is not quite as low as it has been, but it is still very low and will likely give you a par exchange at the airports when you are travelling abroad.

One UK Pound will translate to Australian $2.10 – for those of you that are travelling further afield!

One UK pound gets Japnese Yen 121.77 – Which is not good for Japan exporting cars to the UK and this will put pressure on these car manfacturers!

From a business perspective this is good for companies that export to other countries and especially to the US and Europe, because our goods become so much cheap cheaper (up to 35% cheaper in the USA from the Sterling high last year) to those countries where we export.

However, where companies are heavily dependent upon imports, then where these come from within the Eurozone and from the USA, their costs will have risen sharply and of course could force them to either put up their prices or could force them out of business all together! Where prices are forced up, this could put pressure on inflation within the UK, which is the last thing we need right now!