Best Euro rates since 2008

Last week brought good news for those of you looking to buy Euros, as we saw the best rates on the market since October 2008. This followed the European Central Bank’s decision to cut their headline interest rate on Thursday, to historic lows of 0.75%, weakening the single currency on foreign exchange markets.

The news came despite the Bank of England’s extension to Quantitative Easing, also announced on Thursday. Usually, we would expect the Pound to weaken after such a decision, but the announcement came as no surprise and was overshadowed by the ECB rate cut. Having said that, the Pound continued to fall on Thursday and Friday against most other currencies, including the US, New Zealand, Australian and Canadian Dollars and UAE Dirham.

The ‘commodity currencies’ have all gained significant strength recently, giving worse rates for sending money to South Africa, New Zealand and Australia in particular. On the other hand, if you have assets in any of these countries to bring back to sterling, now could be a good time to consider fixing an exchange rate.

This week, we don’t have any major data due out in the UK, and now that Wimbledon and the British Grand Prix are also over, perhaps headlines will all be focussed overseas. Foreign exchange rates are still as unsettled as the British summer, so do let us know at Currency Index is you have a transfer that you would like us to help with in the coming weeks.