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X change rate yet again....WHY???


mint
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Now this bad news is out of the way, there is more chance of the pound rising than falling.  The only problem is that once money starts to fall, it continues on a downward trend for a while until it is corrected.

Don't forget that it is in the interests of the government and the Bank of England to have a low pound in order to encourage exports.  So don't expect miracles - yet.

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Trouble is low interest rate means higher inflation which is the biggest problem in the UK, its now the highest in Europe and higher than the US. It's going to get a lot worse before it get better, parity or worse by the end of the year.
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Now I know what they said about inflation in the UK, and petrol is very expensive, but it has gone up in France too. I am spending a little more on most things, but apart from petrol, not a lot more. I am very very price aware.

I saw french news last night and they were saying how much every day basic products had gone up and lots of things were 15 to 20 percent.

I will never believe INSEE, so figures from France I will always take with a pinch of salt. Friends in France have moaned a lot recently about price rises in the last year and I trust them rather than french govt figures.

Re the exchange rate, I have never understood it, makes no sense to me at all. Now if the french pension people would actually pay up, we might have some euros to bring back to the UK. Two months without any income is rather a long time.
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Some people think the pound is cheap so they buy it. Some think it expensive so they sell it. At any one time there are traders who believe the pound will rise and those who believe it will fall. The value rises and fall as the balance between these 2 views is adjusted. Taking the opinions of the ''market experts'' has the same accuracy level as tossing a coin.

Rising interest rates tend to strengthen a currency whereas rising inflation weakens it. So there is still a balance.

It is what it is and we can't do a thing about it!
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[quote user="JK"]Some people think the pound is cheap so they buy it. Some think it expensive so they sell it. At any one time there are traders who believe the pound will rise and those who believe it will fall. The value rises and fall as the balance between these 2 views is adjusted. Taking the opinions of the ''market experts'' has the same accuracy level as tossing a coin.

Rising interest rates tend to strengthen a currency whereas rising inflation weakens it. So there is still a balance.

It is what it is and we can't do a thing about it![/quote]

dont ever go into forex trading ! :)
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We were in the UK for a week recently and were a bit taken aback at supermarket prices, as they seemed to have increased quite a lot. I've always critizised hard up people I've seen on TV buying convenience foods saying they ought to buy cheap cuts of meat, but the convenience foods were the only cheap food! Meat and fish was loads more expensive than we pay in France, and with less choice, and vegetables were only available pre-packaged!

Before anyone says we should have shopped in small independant shops, the town nearest to where we stayed had two big supermarkets but the town centre seemed to be all charity shops and 'pound' shops.

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What? my supermarkets, and I have Morrisons, Tesco and Asda close by always have loose veg in them. I tend to buy from veg shops and butchers though. Prices are not out of the way up here in the north of England at all. I find fish expensive, but I often did in France.

I do not buy convenience food, Never have, cannot imagine doing so, so I wouldn't know how much they were. I like to know what we are eating.

I also get lovely veg here, and often the french fruit is better than we had in France, but I was always told that that was normal as the 'best' stuff goes for export.

And I would add that I think that my shopping bill hasn't really gone up more than a minimal amount in the last year, really, as I had said it has gone up, a little. My petrol bill has and I could moan and moan about that.
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This was in Devon - and I was shocked that there wasn't loose veg in the supermarkets.

The potatoes were an exception as they were fantastic, both new potatoes and one's for baking, and much cheaper than France. Other than that, and having the option to buy out of season fruit, I was a bit disappointed with all the fresh food.

On the other hand the choice in other than fresh food was fantastic and without exception everyone we came into contact with was really incredibly helpful and friendly.
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Just been shopping. Only two loose carrots left but at 1/4 to 7 at night wasn't a shock, but I didn't need any anyway. Bought my lemons in a net as there is a recipe I want to do this weekend and thought it best that they were 'in', there were loose lemons available. In fact most things were loose, apart from the red fruits which were all in trays. That was in Morrisons.

I had real problems getting potatoes I liked when I got back as I used to get mine from a farm in France and they were wonderful patates. I now buy, 'dirty' scottish potatoes from the best veg shop in town, don't know what type they are, but they are good. My son has just visited from France and he was quite shocked to see unwashed potatoes.

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Sorry to spoil your evening, folks, but just over 1.13 at close of trading today.

You'd be all right, idun, as you are changing "the other way", that is, euros to pounds, lucky you! 

Edit: Cathy, please look at your Messages

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Thats a good point actually and anybody trying to sell a house to go back to UK should see this as an opportunity and be seriously thinking about dropping their Euro price accordingly. The same applies to you Richard, if the €/$ rate is so advantageous and you really do want to sell then reduce your Euro price to give you the minimum in $ that you can live with.

I can see an argument here for Immos to advertise Brit owned properties in £ along with a live display of the of the current rexchange rate and subsequent Euro price so that potential French buyers appreciate the effective price drop and possibly be attracted by a bargain. If it starts to turn against you then revert to the Euro price alone.

I'm sure the average French person in the street has not a clue about the £/€ exchange rate or it's potential as a bargaining tool if considering buying from a Brit returnee.

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