Better news for holidaymakers as sterling holds its ground

Holidaymakers heading to the US who timed their currency exchange right last month will have been delighted with an exchange rate of over 1.50 for the first time since January, according to the HiFX Global Currency Moves Report for April. Anyone planning to head down under to New Zealand will have still found themselves in a difficult position however, as GBP/NZD remains the most volatile currency pair on our list for the period. The HiFX report also shows that Sterling held its ground against the Euro despite the Chancellor failing to convince the market with his optimistic growth forecasts in the annual budget.

Instability down under

Last month saw GBP/AUD near the top of the table as one of the most volatile currency pairs monitored by the HiFX Global Currency Moves Report, whereas this month sees it taking up residence as the least volatile. The relative stability of the Australian Dollar against Sterling meant that anyone transferring £200,000 in April risked AUD 17,920 compared to a huge AUD 40,660 last month. This stability was mirrored in the other currency pairs in the table. For a transfer of £200,000 in to NZD (GBP/NZD still holding the top spot in the rankings) there was a risk of NZD 32,520 this month as opposed to NZD 80,080 in March.

Sterling holds its ground

Despite Sterling being still vulnerable to bad news stories surrounding the UK economy and banking sector, the Pound finished the month on the front foot against the majority of its counterparts. This was despite a sharp drop in GDP data highlighting the severity of the economic downturn and a negative response to Chancellor Darling's optimistic growth forecasts for the UK economy in the Budget.

Mark Bodega, Director of currency specialists HiFX comments: "What a difference a month makes! Our monthly Global Currency Moves report shows that nothing stands still in the currency markets and highlights the risks for individuals transferring or spending money abroad. Whilst we haven't seen the volatility that was seen last month, the fragile nature of the financial markets in general means that you just don't know what's around the corner.

"Anyone planning to emigrate, particularly to New Zealand, needs to seek advice about how to mitigate the huge volatility witnessed in recent months, or risk starting out their new life with less money than they'd hoped."

For more information, visit hifx.co.uk