£terling and $ollar crashing against the €uro

[orangeman]

Zilch, in the short term.

That's what I thought - the Brits rejected it along time ago and I think it can only be brought in by way of a Referendum and I'd say a referendum is the last thing on Brown's mind at the minute.

[delboy]

We need stability and there for a currency to lose 20% of its value on a few months is not good news.

Ok, the weak pound might help in the short ter, in the longer term it can't be good news.

There has to be a balance that allows both sides to derive a benefit.

There's only so much shopping the southerners can do in the North and only so much benefit this can do to the Newry economy.


But what about the poor retailers in the border counties and beyond ?? They're f--ed !

Is the national debt of the UK in sterling? If it is then this devaluation would be a 20 % drop in the national debt surely??

[orangeman]

We need stability and there for a currency to lose 20% of its value on a few months is not good news.

Ok, the weak pound might help in the short ter, in the longer term it can't be good news.

There has to be a balance that allows both sides to derive a benefit.

There's only so much shopping the southerners can do in the North and only so much benefit this can do to the Newry economy.


But what about the poor retailers in the border counties and beyond ?? They're f--ed !

Is the national debt of the UK in sterling? If it is then this devaluation would be a 20 % drop in the national debt surely??

Depend where they borrowed from doesn't it ?

[Bensars]

Bank considered bigger rate cut 

The Bank has trimmed rates from 5% to 2% in just three months
The Bank of England's rate-setting body voted 9-0 to cut rates to 2% this month and considered a bigger move, minutes from its meeting have shown.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) agreed that a cut in the Bank rate from 3% to 2% was the minimum needed.

However, it avoided a deeper cut on concerns it could hit the pound and undermine confidence in the economy.

Analysts said the minutes indicated that UK interest rates would fall further in the months ahead.

The pound fell to another record low against the euro, with one pound worth 1.0984 euros, following the release of the minutes as expectations grew of further hefty rate cuts.

The weak state of the UK economy was also emphasised by the release of new unemployment data, which showed the highest jobless total for more than a decade.

Balancing act

The minutes showed that the MPC considered that a cut in the Bank rate to below 2% might be justified given the problems facing the economy.

  The Monetary Policy Committee could soon be following the US Fed in cutting interest rates very close to zero

Jonathan Loynes, Capital Economics

However, the committee noted that financial markets were expecting a one percentage point cut, and "there was a risk that going further could cause an excessive fall in the exchange rate".

"There was also a risk that an unexpectedly large cut could undermine confidence in the economy more widely."

The MPC welcomed the temporary VAT cut that was introduced by Chancellor Alistair Darling in pre-Budget report.

"The timing of discretionary spending changes announced in the pre-Budget report and the cut in VAT were likely to be helpful in offsetting the downside risks to output growth in 2009," it said.

The committee also noted the importance of getting bank lending levels to recover.

However, it agreed that cutting the Bank rate was "not the right policy instrument to tackle supply constraints in the credit market".

"Further measures to underpin lending growth would be needed, building on the government's package announced in October to recapitalise and guarantee funding to the banks," the minutes said.

Inflation slowing

Nearly all analysts are now expecting further sharp cuts in UK interest rates in the new year.

"It's abundantly clear the MPC feels the stance of policy is still out of kilter with economic prospects," said Philip Shaw at Investec.

"We certainly think that another 50 basis point cut is due at the next meeting and our central case for interest rates remains they will dip below 1% in Q2."

Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist at Capital Economics, said: "December's MPC minutes and the latest labour market data support the view that the Monetary Policy Committee could soon be following the US Fed in cutting interest rates very close to zero."

On Tuesday, the latest inflation figures showed that the CPI rate dropped to 4.1% in November.

Although this was still well above the 2% target rate, the Bank of England governor, Mervyn King, said in a letter to the chancellor that inflation was set to fall "materially" below the target rate in the second half of 2009.

[armaghniac]

rate at present €1 = 0.92689
this would mean that IR£ = £1.176!!

Tyrone people are going to find the All Ireland expensive this year!

[orangeman]

rate at present €1 = 0.92689
this would mean that IR£ = £1.176!!

Tyrone people are going to find the All Ireland expensive this year!

Parity is just round the corner - they'll be giving £1.50 to the euro in Newry shortly ! 

[muppet]

Only downside is the cheap crossborder petrol must be no more now.

the petrol will even up to some extent as it is partly based on the oil price in dollars.

Changes of this magnitude will wreck a lot of people's jobs. For example the motor trade in the south is in tatters as you can now import a used car from the UK for much less. Consequently you cannot sell a used car in the 26 counties, and so car dealers don't want trade ins, which doesn't help what is left of the new car market either.

The only good long term outcome of this would be if the UK joined the Euro.

Wont happen unless:

a) Britain stops producing oil.

or

b) The US$ fails.

[FermPundit]

Did anyone see the 6 o'clock news on RTE last night?

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1216/1news_av.html?2463839,null,230

The ASDA store in Enniskillen store is the second highest performing store in the UK and the sixth top performing store in Asda-owner Wal-Mart's global empire.

I was down at home over the weekend and the traffic in the town with southern shoppers was shocking. Most shops are now so busy that many locals won't go near them.

[Puckoon]

Did anyone see the 6 o'clock news on RTE last night?

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1216/1news_av.html?2463839,null,230

The ASDA store in Enniskillen store is the second highest performing store in the UK and the sixth top performing store in Asda-owner Wal-Mart's global empire.

I was down at home over the weekend and the traffic in the town with southern shoppers was shocking. Most shops are now so busy that many locals won't go near them.

Surely this performance must be based on a population ratio - or expected sales?

Id find it hard to believe that that store would have the highest turnover of all the WalMart empire?

[FermPundit]

Did anyone see the 6 o'clock news on RTE last night?

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1216/1news_av.html?2463839,null,230

The ASDA store in Enniskillen store is the second highest performing store in the UK and the sixth top performing store in Asda-owner Wal-Mart's global empire.

I was down at home over the weekend and the traffic in the town with southern shoppers was shocking. Most shops are now so busy that many locals won't go near them.

Surely this performance must be based on a population ratio - or expected sales?

Id find it hard to believe that that store would have the highest turnover of all the WalMart empire?

It probably is based on population ratio but nevertheless its an interesting statistic.

[armaghniac]

It is probably based on % margin, no need to price goods too competitively when the currency is doing your work for you. The net effect of this is that Fermanagh people will not get any bargains.

[redhandluke]

Currency trading has finished for the day and the Euro is up a massive 3% on Sterling in just one day.  Great pay rise for any workers in the South living in the North, but apart from the retailers south of the border the real losers are those with Holiday homes in the South, many of them with homes in Donegal.

If interest rates were the same now as they were back in Jan 08, mortgage payments from sterling to euro would be approx 32% more expensive - thank God interest rates have come down in euro land to offset this large currency drop.

[Bensars]

Did anyone see the 6 o'clock news on RTE last night?

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1216/1news_av.html?2463839,null,230

The ASDA store in Enniskillen store is the second highest performing store in the UK and the sixth top performing store in Asda-owner Wal-Mart's global empire.

I was down at home over the weekend and the traffic in the town with southern shoppers was shocking. Most shops are now so busy that many locals won't go near them.

Surely this performance must be based on a population ratio - or expected sales?

Id find it hard to believe that that store would have the highest turnover of all the WalMart empire?

The Asda in Strabane is the jewel in their crown. Number one store. last week they were on target to take £2million in the one week and set a new record.

[orangeman]

Did anyone see the 6 o'clock news on RTE last night?

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1216/1news_av.html?2463839,null,230

The ASDA store in Enniskillen store is the second highest performing store in the UK and the sixth top performing store in Asda-owner Wal-Mart's global empire.

I was down at home over the weekend and the traffic in the town with southern shoppers was shocking. Most shops are now so busy that many locals won't go near them.

Surely this performance must be based on a population ratio - or expected sales?

Id find it hard to believe that that store would have the highest turnover of all the WalMart empire?

The Asda in Strabane is the jewel in their crown. Number one store. last week they were on target to take £2million in the one week and set a new record.

My God ! £2m a week £300k a day approx - amazing !

[armaghniac]

it is not getting any better for Tyrone supporters, Fionntamhnach. I reckon you should throw the Armagh game and hope to draw a  team in the qualifiers that yuou can respectably loose to, so as to cut the expense.

currently €1 = £0.94350, your £ only buys IR£0.835 now.

in economic terms, thus is getting beyond a joke though. Such a rapid change brings all manners of economic dislocations.