deep9400

What the f@#K has happened to the pound and all major currencies. The pound exchange rate is continuing to drop verses the Peso. My pension is affected obviously. Anyone know why?

Stokkevn

On Monday the ECB committed about 1 trillion Euro in QE over the next two years, £ & Euro dropped like a stone. £ will recover a bit over the next few weeks but the low oil price will hold it down.

deep9400

Thanks for your help Stokkevn

Stokkevn

Unfortunately with the anti-austerity party in Greece winning the Greek election the Euro and consequently the Pound will suffer even more. If you have any savings in the FTSE the increase there should compensate for the drop in the GBP. Those with reasonable memories should remember 2/3 years ago the exchange rate GBP/Ph was 60, those with longer memories will remember the halcyon days 10 years ago when it was 109.

UncleFatBloke

@ deep9400, based on your reaction in your original post I have the bad feeling that you thought the exchange rate Pound to Peso was always going to stay at the great level it was when you first moved to PH.
The reality is however nicely represented in Stokkevn's last post:
A couple of years ago GBP-PHP = x60.
10 years ago GBP-PHP = x109
Over the next 10 years the Philippine economy is only going to get stronger, as the country develops.
That means the exchange rate will go up and down as it always has, but the general trend WILL be less Pesos for your Pounds over the longer term.
I don't want to get anyone, including yourself, unduly worried, it is just that a lot of people don't understand this issue, and they need to sit down and calculate their budgets based on this trend - to prevent ending up deep in the doo-doo!
You should at least work with an exchange rate of GBP-PHP = x 40 sometime in the next 10 years.
This is a probability, not a dead-cert, but it will get you working on what you need to do to get by.


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Gazza-d

And 5 years before that it was 38.

deep9400

I've lived here since 2006 so I remember the highs and lows over that time. I just find it incredible that as soon as I get a decent retirement income the bloody pounds sinks again.

mikemike

The pesos is pegged to the dollar, the dollar rise has been huge and some say another 15% to go, that will take us back to sub 60:1. Add in the electoral uncertainty in the UK and you have a potent cocktail against the GBP.

Strong dollar has helped supress Oil pricing, so the lower exchange rate means its cheaper to fill up the vehicle if you have one and should see cheaper power bills but not by anywhere near as much as the exchange rate loss.

This is going to be a very difficult 6 months.


Once the cost of oil starts to rise and the 'bull run' on the $ US has eased, we should see a steady rise in the rate. Uk politics will take care of the rest, one way or the other!!

deep9400

I will cringe in the corner until it's all over. Luck has it that the daughter fees have been paid and my eldest will graduate next month. As usual Daddy wont get his guitar until the £ comes back

mikek1

Is it worth buying Peso's? I buy US$ at the spot rate (for business purposes) and set the period of time when I want to use them. If I wanted to buy £20,000 worth of peso's at todays rate I would have to pay a small deposit (5%) and then pay the balance when I need the funds transferring. If as Mike Mike indicates the Peso could drop to 60/1 it might be worthwhile,as I have some projects for our house.

Incidentally, whilst in the Philippines (December) we looked at a couple of expensive beach fronted properties that were owned by 'foreigners'. In both cases the properties had been on the market for a considerable time and had failed to sell.

I wanted to part ex our house plus cash to purchase theirs. Both vendors refused as they wanted to liquidate their assets in the Philippines meaning a 100% cash sale ! It would appear to me that for some reason any property for sale is vastly overpriced and the vendors are overly optimistic. In the one case the vendor needed to sell quick, but could not grasp the notion that he would have realised some of his capital immediately and had a less (easier to sell) valued house to sell.

With the exchange rate dropping I wonder if their regretting my offer? Wouldn't touch them now at 66/1

mikemike

Please remember the potential for the exchange rate drop is just my opinion. I have been wrong many times.