Since the start of the year, we’ve seen great strides made by GDP, which had already ended last year as the strongest currency in the G10. Favourable data releases - such as good employment figures –have seen sterling hit its highest level against euro in a year. This is great news for expats looking to buy property overseas or send money abroad, as they’re now getting much more for their money.
To illustrate the point, let’s take a look at the exchange rates now and a year ago, and see the difference. So, at the end of January last year, the GB Pound / Euro exchange rate was at 1.1733, but now the rate is 1.2044. If you were transferring £200,000, you’d have got around €234,660 a year ago, but you’d now get around €240,880. What a difference a year makes - a difference of over €6,000.
Get your timing wrong, and it could end up costing you a lot of money. Twice last year, in March and August, the GBPEUR exchange rate fell to 1.15. If you were to transfer £200,000 at that rate, you’d have got €230,000, which is nearly €11,000 less than you’d get now. It just goes to show that you can’t afford to take any risks when dealing with the currency markets.
Live rates for transferring £200,000 UK Pounds into Euros:
All our rates are updated every 5 minutes to ensure we provide accurate comparisons.
Against the US dollar, sterling has also been enjoying great strength, having recently moved close to a 32 month high. Today, if you transfer £300,000, you’d get around $497,000. A year ago, the same amount would have got you about $472,000 – a huge difference of $25,000 in a year.
Live rates for transferring £300,000 UK Pounds into US Dollars:
All our rates are updated every 5 minutes to ensure we provide accurate comparisons.
It’s certainly a good time to be changing money from sterling into both euro and US dollar, but no-one knows when sterling’s strength will recede. We’ve seen how a change from one year to the next can affect you, but exchange rates can also fluctuate dramatically in the space of a month or week. Every piece of political or financial news and data – like the movement in interest rates, employment data, business confidence or political instability in a country – can combine to significantly affect the strength of a currency at any time.
If you’re an expat or someone that needs to send money home, World First are on hand to provide you with better exchange rates than the bank, faster transfers and exceptional service. They can also offer you services and products that the banks tend to reserve for only their large corporate clients. Benefit from the peace of mind that a forward contract brings, and protect yourself from moves in the market against you by fixing the exchange rate now for a transfer later down the line. That way, if sterling does take a dive, you won’t lose out, having already agreed an exchange rate.
Written by James Thorp
World First
