EXCHANGE RATE VARIATIONS

tbbr · Post by **tbbr** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 9:32 am

Having seen in the last 3 months a decline of almost 5% in the value of sterling compared to the Euro I was wondering what are the best ways to hedge any UK income against the euro when living in Portugal.

Do residents save up and wait until they see a favourable rate and then buy . just go with the flow or are there more sophisticated vehicles available ??.

The plus side of course is that anyone selling their ALgarve property will see a sterling gain but buyers will pay more.

Al Garb · Post by **Al Garb** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 6:23 pm

www.hifx.com will fix at least one year ahead. I assume all similar companies do the same. The DIY solution is to change half to € now and keep half in £ and so loss on one side gives you a gain on the other

Globetrotter · Post by **Globetrotter** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 3:53 pm

Just be happy you don´t have your assets in US$$.

Bruce Wallis · Post by **Bruce Wallis** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 5:17 pm

Ohhh, are you telling me NOT to buy US dollars yet, as they have further to fall?

tbbr · Post by **tbbr** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 7:38 pm

Fallen further today against the Euro, now £ would only buy you 1.37 euros was over 1.44 only a few weeks ago.

How do those on fixed UK incomes ( pensions ) cope with this variation. ??

Gary/Gaynor · Post by **Gary/Gaynor** » Thu Nov 15, 2007 2:58 pm

I suppose it does not help when the BOE announce this week that sterling will get weaker next year and interest rates will drop !!

Gary

Nearly make me happy to be earning EUROs

tbbr · Post by **tbbr** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 10:18 am

The strength of the euro ( today 1 euro = 76 p tourist rate ) is bound to have an effect not just the property market ( equates to a sterling value rise in prices of nearly 9% this year ).
Maybe good news if your have sold , V BAD news if you are trying to sell to a UK buyer.

There will also be the affect on the tourist market with holiday makers having less to spend as their pound buys fewer euros.

The European bank is holding rates because of the threat from inflation.
The US and UK are reducing theirs result the Euro will continue to get stronger and problems of competativness will grow.