jad n rich

Probably not often

Am considering tranfering a chunk of OZ money to UK, even if we never buy a house there, its my guess the exchange rate wont stay like this and a lot of money will be made when the assie dollar drops again.

Been typing some figures into the oz forex site but havent been game to hit the send button

Of course there is a catch once you transfer money to UK it no longer earns the 6% intrest it does in oz.

paulry

In your shoes I think I would only send money to the UK if it was to buy a property. There's talk of more properties going on the market lately and the likelyhood that prices will drop a bit soon.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/mortgag...age_id=57&ct=5.

I've noticed in our local papers that the pendulum seems to be swinging back towards a higher proportion of properties for sale against the number of those to let.

MartinLuther

It's got a lot better recently.

bcworld

A few hours later GBP480k. ($1.6299)

freebo

Depends on the timeframe I suppose, YTD GBP/AUD is down about 9% and GBP/USD down 7.2% the Euro has problems too (the PIGS) yet we're performing even worse than them (about 2%). If you really want an extreme example GBP/JPY is down 10.2%.

I fully agree the Australian economy is heading in the opposite direction to the UK one, and doesn't look like changing soon. The only threats I see are a downturn in China (more possible than it first seems, boy do they have a property bubble), or raising interest rates too fast, killing the consumer who's already very heavily debt burdened.

Maybe fairest to say the £ is weak across the board but especially against the AUD and JPY.

stuckinblighty

1.628

beat ya

freebo

Looks liek UK buget is being announced today - Labour want to keep spendin to safeguard the "recovery" (what recovery), Tories want to start spening cuts immediately to balance the budget.

If you want a stronger (less weak) pound vote Conservative IMHO.

Budawang

Yes, but you'd have to live in the UK. Considering the prospect of spiralling government debt over there, you can bet taxes are going to go up and public services and infrastructure will be in decline. Meanwhile, if Australia plays it cards right, it could be another Norway.

Amazulu

True, I have no great desire to live in the UK but if I could semi-retire I could live in France, Belgium, Spain etc and work 3-4 months of the year in the UK or Australia.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Full of men with pointy horns stuck on their hats?

freebo

Plenty of cheap houses going in Spain, and 20% unemployment, and one of the next to suffer riots & national strikes when their govt announces "austerity measures". Same issues as the UK (but sunnier and with a huge, popped real estate bubble), anyones guess who'll end up worse!

Budawang

[QUOTE=jad n rich;8409044]Probably not often

Am considering tranfering a chunk of OZ money to UK, even if we never buy a house there, its my guess the exchange rate wont stay like this and a lot of money will be made when the assie dollar drops again.

QUOTE]

I'm not so sure Sterling will rebound anytime soon after reading this:

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance...boost-exports/

I found the following comment posted by a reader quite interesting:

"A low Sterling would only boost exports if there was anything in Britain that was been made for the expport markets. If low currencies were a requirement for increasing exports, then Zimbabwe would be an economic powerhouse. The erosion of Britain’s skill base can not be overcome with by a low pound."

Amazulu

[QUOTE=Budawang;8409512] Fair enough but my understanding of this is that there is a lag effect of the benefit of weaker currency on exports. I reckon in a year's time it will be a different story.

freebo

[QUOTE=Amazulu;8409600] Maybe, but the UK exports very little in terms of goods and most are made of imported raw materials, which get corresponingly more expensive when £ is weak.

Budawang

[QUOTE=Amazulu;8409600] Sure, there may be a lag. However, cheap labour brought about by a devalued currency will only help so much. There are many other factors to consider such as economic and political stability and a good vocational education system. As others have pointed out, a falling currency also adds cost by way of more expensive imported inputs.

Britain has to rebuild its manufacturing base and turn from being a country of shopkeepers and bankers to one that makes things. This will require Britain becoming attractive to foreign investors. Rebuilding confidence in Britain will require stabilising the currency and getting government debt under control. There's a long, hard road ahead.