[sunny35]

We need to transfer some sterling over into Australian dollars soon but compared to a few months ago the pound is buying a lot less dollars. :( Does anyone think that it will keep on falling or should we hang on and hope that it picks up again?

[scotty]

It's impossible to say when the best time is!! At the moment the pound is very weak due to the recession, but holding on for a week/month or two will not make much difference in my opinion.

If you have a lot of money to transfer over, you could always 'hedge' and just transfer a bit over at a time.

[Cliff]

No now is definitely not a good time. Last year the rate was up as high as one pound buying 2.7AUD and it's now below 2AUD. Whether it will get better soon, though, is really hard to say.

[quincy]

Exchange rate is improving a bit for you now..... hold on a while and see what happens.

[FamousFive]

Here's a graph of how many Australian dollars the pound sterling has bought over the past 40 years.

http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab322/FamousFiveOz/audukp6909.jpg


Now just looking at the past 10 years.

http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab322/FamousFiveOz/audukp9909.jpg

In recent years the pound has been weakening against the dollar. Given that the Bank of England has further extended its quantitative easing (money printing) scheme, I can't see any reasons for the pound to start strengthening again soon. Today it's buying less than AUD2.00.

Historically, the pound has had fairly strong technical support at about the $2 mark, so it may also not fall very much further from here without a push from further very bad economic news in the UK.

[sunny35]

The graph is a bit depressing for us but we have to exchange now so we will just have to grin and bear it. :rolleyes: We wish now that we had set up a bank account earlier and had transferred at least something over when the rates were better.

[Redwood]

Historically, the pound has had fairly strong technical support at about the $2 mark, so it may also not fall very much further from here without a push from further very bad economic news in the UK.

TVM for the graphs FF. I hope you're right about support. I see the pound is taking a hammering today, down to AUD1.97 now. :(

[scotty]

Quantatative easing -----> Printing more money

The more of anything there is, the less valuable it gets. I don't see the rate improving anytime soon.

[sunny35]

Still hoping that the rate will go up just a little bit - what does everyone else think?

[sunny35]

It's still heading down. Midpoint 1.957 on XE. :(

[FamousFive]

It's not looking good for the pound. The UK is debasing its currency every month. So far it has printed over £6,000 for each and every tax payer and the head of the Bank of England wants to print more. I've been reading that the UK's contributions to the EU go up a huge amount next year also, meaning further tax rises or more borrowing. Then there'll be big cuts in public spending. There's not a lot there to send the pound rising strongly and consistently.

[scotty]

It's still heading down. Midpoint 1.957 on XE. :(

Now at 1.94154. :(:(

[scotty]

it's been a bad day for the pound against the dollar.

XE : 1.00 GBP = 1.93843 AUD

[sunny35]

I see from the charts that last October there was quite a 'bounce' in the exchange rate as the pound became stronger. Does anyone think that this will happen again this year??

We're still hoping that we can get over $2 for our pounds in the next few months. It's so frustrating .....

[quincy]

It's improved a little today, back at 1.95.

However there's gong to be an interest rate rise coming soon according to all the papers today. That is only going to strengthen the dollar. I can't see a repeat of last October happening.

[Housewife]

1.919 according to XE tonight!!!

Good news for those planning their hols in the UK. Not so good for those coming the other way.

[PamInPerth]

I think it will settle down now at around this mark for a while. The news that Aus interest rates may be going up by the end of the year is probably the reason for the recent gains.

[grumps]

1.919 according to XE tonight!!!

Good news for those planning their hols in the UK. Not so good for those coming the other way.

Aint that the truth.I do all our banking with hsbc in the UK and I checked their rates tonight in preparation for our move to Oz in Dec and they are quoting $1.81 to the quid and we're supposed to be preferential customers being premier acct holders!:mad::mad:

[Sam66]

:eek:That's a shocking rate :eek:

Have you thought about using Hifx - I'm sure they will give you a better deal.

http://www.hifx.co.uk/

[Friendly Ferret]

Most people still haven't realised what a seriously godawful mess the UK is in. The structural deficit is £100 bn a year. (That's what the government's spending but not bringing in through taxes. It doesn't include the extra spending this year. (Another $100 billion.)

$100 billion a year is another 20p on the basic rate of tax. People just aren't getting the whole picture of the mess.

How can you sweep a structural deficit of £100 billion under the carpet? You can't. But you can try to inflate it away by printing money and devaluing the debt (and the currency with it.)

40% basic rate tax anyone?

[scotty]

]http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab322/FamousFiveOz/audukp6909.jpg


Well it has reached new lows today - the pound is sinking like a stone. 1.00 GBP = 1.62670 AUD. Looking at the 40-year graph (thanks Famous Five) makes me really aware about how fluctuating currencies can be and it sure has a huge effect on buying power.

[PamInPerth]

It must be quite a scary time if you are moving out from the UK. Where will it all end?? I keep thinking that the dollar can't get any stronger against the pound and then it does.

[arabib]

This is a major issue for my partner and I.

We have just sold our house in London and the thought of transferring money to the Aus is not a good one :/

I am with Pam on this, when you think it coild not get any worse it does.

When I moved to the UK from Aus it was $2.50 for every pound....

[scotty]

Only hope now is that the pound gets a bounce after the election - I think it will be downhill all the way until then. There seems to be a pattern that sterling steadies up for a week or two and you think - now it's going to rise - and then it falls again. It's getting to the point where I don't want to know anymore.:confused: Had a look today and rate is still really bad at around 1.63.