2.16
 

enough said :(:(:(:(:(:(:(


Stopped thinking about how much we may lose by keeping money for our house in our UK bank - the sale was slow and we only received the money 2 weeks ago, but even at 2.22 then, should we have changed it? Who knows?


Soon it's going to impact very much on what we can buy too, without PR we can't borrow as much as if we had it.

Jan

Re: 2.16
 

genesis 2.16 ? "you may surely eat of every tree of the garden?" or something to do with the exchange rate?

Re: 2.16
 

If the exchange rate goes down any more we might have to eat of every tree :rofl:

Re: 2.16
 

2.16 is the lowest its been since floatation in 1984.. a 25 year low..

As has been said before, its only a matter of time before the tourists stop coming. At 2.16 to the pound NZ is going to look bloody expensive. Then the country is in real trouble

Re: 2.16
 

Since we are net importers however on balance won’t this actually be better for most New Zealanders? Our dollars will go further towards buying Italian shoes and coffee beans (which seem to be out biggest retail industries ;)).

I don't have one for New Zealand Pesos but this makes it clear that the pound sliding in value is not a new problem:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y15...ollar-long.gif

Re: 2.16
 

"Since we are net importers however on balance won’t this actually be better for most New Zealanders? Our dollars will go further towards buying Italian shoes and coffee beans (which seem to be out biggest retail industries)"

Sure, but you can't afford to buy all those nice imported goods if you haven't got a job.

We may be net importers overall (particularly of coffee :D) but the dairy industry, meat, fish, fruit and tourism all contribute a major part of NZs income by exporting, and they are major employers.

In the long run a high NZ dollar must mean loss of NZ jobs, so every Kiwi needs to be concerned about it

Re: 2.16
 

This could also be written:
That said the state of the New Zealand dollar and jobs market are both a reflection of the people we elect as a society to run the country and the type of society we have. Cause and effect. The old argument about the ballance governments must find on policy ;).

Re: 2.16
 

And Bollard has said that he would not put up the OCR until end 2010. Oz Reserve is now 3.25%. If Alan does not hike the rates here (which could make the kiwi EVEN stronger) there could be a mass exodus of kiwi$$ to Oz for a better rate. This country is going to be in shit loads of trouble very, very soon. As you say the tourists will not come..if they do they will spend less and stay a shorter period. And how do you think our exports are looking on the world stage? The most expensive (exchange wise) since flotation. Something has to give.

Re: 2.16
 

Ooooo . I woz waiting for youz to show up , you tree eater you. :p

Re: 2.16
 

Is not the underlying problem the UK and US economies tanking as opposed to the strength of the NZ$?

The current issue for NZ is inflation- which may lead to higher interest rates (note Australia) and hence an even stronger NZ$

M

Re: 2.16
 

Its alot to do with the UK printing lots of money to shovel their way out of the shite that they have gotten in. It also is to do with the strength of the kiwi. But alas the former is the main problem. It does look like the GBP is utterly shafted for the long term. For those of us with money in the UK we have to hope that in the short term the kiwi will lose some strength ..... as for the UK economy and the weakness of the GBP..how many years can you wait? I so feel for those who are or were hoping to cash up soon and come to NZ. How can anyone afford to do it now?????? So we are in the unenviable situation of having almost worthless currency in a country were the interst rates are at best complete shite. Then you have to pay your tax burden on the paltry interest you make on your UK money in NZ (if you are resident here). Life's a bitch aye???

Re: 2.16
 

I@m getting 3% on my cah ISA here in the UK atm Genesis .. :)

Re: 2.16
 

Alas you can't open ANYTHING in the UK to my understanding unless you are resident in the UK at the actual time. I have an account with The Nationwide and they will not allow us to open ANY new accounts although we have an existing one. I know that there is well over 3% to be had offshore BUT as someone pointed out to me its a risk (although we have in excess of the UK guarantee scheme in the one bank .....Kate does anyway..I am peniless!!) as the IoM and places like Eire may not have the wherewithall tp pay out the huge amounts if any banks fold.

Come to think of it the Uk is ACTUALLY broke, so I just have to hope that the Nationwide will stay afloat.

On a final note I am surprised at the lack of interest in threads like this (just 300 odd views at present), bearing in mind its such a huge issue for those who have wedge in the UK or who are about to do the move and change some serious GBPs. Just a thought.

Re: 2.16
 

Maybe we are all so depressed about our GB pounds withering away, relatively speaking, that we can't bring ourselves to join in. Erm, even though I started it :o

We are house hunting right now. We depend on the house sale proceeds in the UK for our hefty deposit as we don't have PR so we can borrow maximum 60%. We don't know whether to wait for PR and borrow a higher fraction- but we are in the hands of yet another MA so it could take ages - or bite the bullet. The reduction from 2.5 to 2.16 has lost us a lot of money and is now impacting on the type of property we can afford to buy, if we go ahead right now :( We are renting with 3 dogs at present, and were very lucky to find somewhere that would take them. The rental finishes in Feb next year, hence our need to buy.. decisions decisions

I also worry about leaving a lot of money in the UK at all: we can't open another account and do have more than the guaranteed savings limit in one account, so if the bank went tits up we would lose about 20 years worth of hard won equity.

Last time the dollar was this strong the banks stepped in in NZ, I think. but this time it's the GPpound weakness too, so I guess it won't happen?

It so pisses me off when my colleagues tell me they lost money too, because the rate went from 3 to 2.8 when they got here :rofl:

On a serious note, of course this means that if you exchange at a rate like 2.16 (or worse god forbid), and then it goes up/recovers, then the door is probably well and truly shut as far as going back to your old lifestyle in the UK. We have no plans to go back, ever, as I moved here for promotion and it's been a huge success, career wise, but there may be people in that situation, which makes decisions even harder I guess.

Jan

Re: 2.16
 

Hi Jan, know what you mean about changing up now and then it goes the other way!! I am going to wait for things to get better, they will as these things are cyclical and the GBP will not be swallowed up by the euro for a good year or two I reckon. Like you we are (or Kate is) well over the guarantee amount..but what can you do? If you are with one of the big high street ones its very, very unlikey there will be more big players going down so on that front I do not worry too much. But we have decided not to go offshore and get extra cover as stated above the cover outside the UK has less clout I believe. I changed up 20 year equity 4 years ago at 2.64..within months it was over 3:eek:. Shit happens. I am sure it will come kind of right in the next few months. I would hold out if I was you..it can't get much worse can it???????????????????????????????? Waiting for your PR sounds like a good move..you can borrow more thus won't have to change up too much at a shitty rate. Kate like you is doing sooooooooooooooooo well in her new NZ career. She has what she wanted in the the UK but was soooooooo difficult to find back there. She is in her nirvana work wise..but married to me she comes home to reality and mediocrity!!!!!!!!