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  • Economics 11e (1,649)
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Posted on 30 September 201330 September 2013 by John Sloman

Pound appreciates as chances of more QE decline

In an interview with the Yorkshire Post, Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, said that under current circumstances he did not feel that further quantitative easing was justified. He said:

My personal view is, given the recovery has strengthened and broadened, I don’t see a case for quantitative easing and I have not supported it.

In response to his speech, the pound strengthened against the dollar. It appreciated by just over 1 cent, or 0.7%. But why should the likelihood of no further quantitative easing lead to a strengthening of the pound?

The answer lies with people’s anticipation of future interest rates. If there is no further increase in money supply through QE, interest rates are likely to rise as the economy recovers and thus the demand for money rises. A rise in interest rates, in turn, is likely to lead to an inflow of finance into the country, thereby boosting the financial account of the balance of payments. The increased demand for sterling will tend to drive up the exchange rate.

However, an increase in aggregate demand will result in an increase in imports and a likely increase in the balance of trade deficit. Indeed, in July (the latest figures available) the balance of trade deficit rose to £3.085bn from £1.256bn in June. As recovery continues, the balance of trade deficit is likely to deteriorate further. Other things being equal, this would lead to a depreciation of the pound.

So if the pound appreciates, this suggests that the effect on the financial account is bigger than the effect on the current account – or is anticipated to be so. In fact, given the huge volumes of short-term capital that move across the foreign exchanges each day, financial account effects of interest rate changes – actual or anticipated – generally outweigh current account effects.

Articles

Yorkshire can reap benefits from turnaround says Mark Carney Yorkshire Post (27/9/13)
Sterling Jumps as BOE Chief Signals No More Bond Buying Wall Street Journal, Nick Cawley and Jason Douglas (27/9/13)
Carney’s Northern Exposure Sends Sterling Soaring Wall Street Journal, David Cottle (27/9/13)
Pound Gains as Carney Sees No Case for QE, Confidence Improves Bloomberg, Anchalee Worrachate & David Goodman (28/9/13)
Exchange Rate Bounces as Strong UK Data Supports Sterling FCF (Future Currency Forecast), Laura Parsons (30/9/13)
Currency briefing: What if the pound sterling has been overbought? iNVEZZ, Tsvyata Petkova (30/9/13)
Pound rises after Carney rejects increasing QE BBC News (27/9/13)
Pound Rises for Fourth Day Versus Euro on Housing, Mortgage Data Bloomberg, Emma Charlton (30/9/13)

Data

$ per £ exchange rate (latest month) XE (You can access other periods and currencies)
Effective exchange rate indices (nominal and real) Bank for International Settlements
Balance of Payments, Q2 2013 Dataset ONS

Questions

  1. Explain how quantitative easing affects exchange rates.
  2. What is happening concerning quantitative easing in the USA? How is this likely to affect the exchange rate of the US dollar to sterling; other currencies to sterling?
  3. Why may an increase in the balance of trade deficit lead directly to an appreciation of the exchange rate?
  4. Why is an anticipation of a policy change likely to have more of an effect on exchange rates than the actual policy change itself? Why, indeed, may a policy change have the reverse effect once it is implemented?
  5. Under what circumstances may speculation against exchange rate changes be (a) stabilising; (b) destabilising?
  6. How is quantitative easing (or an anticipation of it) likely to affect each of the main components of the current and financial accounts of the balance of payments?
  7. For what reasons might sterling have been ‘overbought’ and hence be overvalued?
  8. What is meant by the real exchange rate (REER)? Why may reference to the REER suggest that sterling is not currently overvalued?
Tags: Tagsappreciation, balance of payments, balance of trade, current account, depreciation, destabilising speculation, exchange rates, financial account, Mark Carney, quantitative easing, Real exchange rate, stabilising speculation, sterling exchange ratesPosted in: CategoriesEconomics for Business: Ch 27, Economics for Business: Ch 32, Economics: Ch 20, Economics: Ch 25, Essential Economics for Business: Ch 13, Essentials of Economics: Ch 15Authored by: John Sloman

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