Last Quarter of 2016 Finance News…
Halloween gone, next is bonfire night then it’s Christmas…. Now you’re feeling good. Halloween left its mark on the pound as without doubt over the last couple of weeks the pound has been spooked and seen its value against the dollar and the euro fall to lows not seen for many a year I hope we don’t see gunpowder treason and plot. When reading this if you are one of our readers who lives in the UK and spends time in Spain whatever you are planning its likely to cost you more because the pound isn’t buying as many euros. The benefit for those living in Spain and visiting the UK or selling Spanish property and sending the money back to the UK is that you will be better off as your euro will buy you more pounds. In the UK, prices are rising and of course this is an unavoidable result when your economy is drastically skewed towards importing most of its goods from abroad and your currency suddenly weakens heavily in a short period of time. Whilst the supermarket wars are making them all drive down their margins to remain competitive, they cannot operate at a loss and will probably have to raise prices soon just in time for the Christmas spending. Inflation which has almost been non existent is now happening in the UK and is a measure of price change, main central banks, such as the Bank of England, tend to aim for a 2% rate of inflation each year. It is enough to keep people spending rather than saving and keep the economy ticking over, and shows economic growth and health providing price rises are sustainable. The UK and the world as a whole have been struggling with inflation for some time, before the Leave Vote UK inflation for the year was moored around 0.6%, yet this has now almost doubled to 1% and is set to improve further. The plus side of inflation linked particularly to wage rises is that people in the UK will be spending more and that tends to lead to greater confidence in UK growth which makes it less likely that there will be a further cut in interest rates. With average house prices still on the rise showing a growth of be around 8.4% in August and the latest unemployment figures showing a fall, the original doom and gloom following the leave vote may just start disappearing and bring back some stability to see the pound recover albeit slowly. So to make the most of your money whether sending it back to the UK or wanting to transfer pounds into euros talk to a currency broker who will be able to provide guidance and make sure you have access to the best exchange rates around. If you want to find out more please contact stephen@costalinkmagazine.com.
