One of the biggest news stories around at the moment in the currency world is the uncertainty over the future of the Euro. Some experts are saying it could be on its last legs, with a possibility of it disappearing altogether in the next few years.
Whatever might happen in this respect there are no doubts the currency converter figures showing the Euro at the moment are rather interesting. At the end of April the figure was 1.1490, but during the first few days of May the onus was firmly on the British pound and it managed to soar to 1.1863 by the 6th.
So was this the beginning of a long and fruitful slew of exchange rates for the pound, or was the Euro going to start fighting back fairly soon? As it turned out the Euro fought back the very next day; it closed out the week on a lower 1.1520 for the pound.
But the pound wasn’t down and out for very long. The following week saw the pound making good headway for the whole week, achieving the best rate of 1.1773 by the 12th. It did drop slightly to end the week on 1.1667 though.
So where would we go from here? We were still doing better than we had been at the start of the month, so anything more would be a bonus really. The next week started well for the pound once more, achieving a better rate of 1.1690 at the end of Monday. But the rest of the week went in favour of the Euro, as the final rate on Friday night had dropped back to 1.1489 for the pound. This was on the 21st, so we were rapidly approaching the end game for the month. Which currency would come out on top as the days strolled by?
It should be said at this stage that the news stories surrounding the fate of the Euro for the long term were starting to build up. This would no doubt have an effect on the strength of the Euro, as everyone wondered whether the recession was too much for the member countries to cope with as a unified whole.
And indeed on the first day back that week the exchange rate went strongly in favour of the pound again. This time it went up to 1.1617 by Monday evening. Did this set us up for better results during the rest of the week as well? Indeed it did, with 1.1816 being the high point of the week on the 27th. We dropped back a little the following day to 1.1765, but even with one day left to trade before May was over, the pound was firmly in control.
The final rate for the month was 1.1783, making 0.0293 the total increase the pound had managed over the month as a whole. The question now is whether this pattern of strength by the pound will continue into the future as well.
Is it just me or does anyone else think we should be performing better against the Euro?
It might sound harsh but this is a currency that everyone thinks will meet its end in the near future. I’ve read enough reports that speculate on it disappearing within the next five years to believe there is a distinct chance of it happening.
So why is the pound still not able to really do much better than it has of late? I know it has improved on where it was recently, near the point of parity, but I am still not convinced by its performance. Wouldn’t it be good to see the pound moving on from here and really climbing up to claim a much better exchange rate?
I have to say I agree with CDixon. The results the pound is showing against the Euro don’t seem to be as good as they should be. I’ve noticed we have had good results against other currencies – like the four and a half cents or so we added on against the New Zealand dollar over the space of three days recently. But then we only get a small increase or nothing at all against the Euro.
You have to ask yourself why this is happening. I personally don’t think it is unreasonable to expect us to pick things up against the Euro when we are doing well everywhere else. Although I suppose if the Euro finally does bite the dust we’ll be shot of it anyway.
I wish we were doing better against the Euro at the moment, because I import some goods for my business from other European countries. A stronger Euro is not good news for me as it makes it more complicated and less profitable to import those same goods.
I am hoping the pound will seize this opportunity to improve its standing against the European single currency. A stronger pound would benefit myself and other businesses who import goods from this region. I know it has other disadvantages as well, but I believe that many importers would be looking for a better exchange rate here as soon as possible. Whether the Euro disappears eventually or not is another matter entirely. That is one for the future.