Pound, Canadian $ fall; US $ stays firm

Published: Tuesday October 28, 2008

It is a good time to buy Canadian dollars and British pounds.

The TT dollar yesterday appreciated against the Canadian dollar, which sold at local commercial banks for as low as TT$5 for one Canadian dollar.

Customers also paid less for pounds sterling at local banks.

First Citizens sold sterling at TT$9.89 to one pound, while Republic Bank's rate was TT$9.88.

Sterling currency has slipped from a high of almost TT$13 to one pound in recent months, while Canadian dollars recently almost levelled the US dollar in trading both in Trinidad and Tobago and around the world.

The 15-nation euro currency also lost ground both against the US greenback and the TT dollar yesterday.

Customers bought euros for fewer TT dollars at commercial banks, paying TT$8.02 for one euro.

The euro has traded at more than TT$9 within recent months.

During this time, the US dollar has held firmly, trading at around TT$6.28 to TT$6.30, as the country continued to manage the floating currency.

Scotiabank's managing director Richard Young said yesterday it might have been expected that the US dollar would have weakened amid the ongoing financial crisis in the United States, but instead the currency seemed to have held steady.

International financial experts have suggested that the US dollar may have regained its status as a safe-haven asset, even as the euro lost ground and the pound was battered.

Young told the Express in a phone interview that the Canadian dollar seemed to be losing ground because it was pegged to natural resources like oil, and with lower demand for crude, the currency seemed to have lost some ground.

The pound has also taken a hammering amid the ongoing financial turmoil in Great Britain.

Young suggested there was a psychological "comfort level" with the US dollar and this, in addition to the rate being managed, kept the greenback high while other currencies were stricken by fears of a global recession.

He said. however, that the lower rates might help importers obtain goods at lower prices from mainland Europe and England and consumers might see lower prices.


Source: Trinidad Express Newspapers
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_business?id=161393699