Currency - Gbp

[dorothee]

In this up coming referendum on Europe ... will the outcome of staying mean we are once again in jeopardy of losing the £ ...?? Just asking as I cannot find answer on this! And my vote will hinge on the answer !!

[TWR]

Duel, Euro / GBP.

[Prudie]

Gawd knows but Cameron wants to stay in but has also persistently confirmed we will never move to the Euro. No guarantee of that from future government though.

[Kathyan]

There are no guarantees on anything if we stay in the EU even if Cameron gets his 'reforms'!

[KARL]

I get the impression that many in the UK want to be able to boast of a strong currency and "therefore" want to keep the GBP. My earliest recollection of an exchange rate for the GBP against USD was when it was worth something like $2.70 and at the time people were lamenting its fall from more like $3 to the Pound. Lots of countries, and not just colonies, ex-colonies, dependencies, etc., effectively kept their national reserves in the UK - it was called being in "the Sterling Zone". Then it happened that the GBP sank dramatically and came very close to parity with the USD and almost all the Sterling Zone members (of course probably not any remaining colonies or dependencies) fled and switched to a different "hard" currency or a "basket" of more than one. The Sterling Zone went out of existence and joined the Empire on the shelves of history.

The Euro is a more recently formed currency. At the time of its issue, the GBP was worth in excess of EUR 1.60. The GBP to EUR rate now stands at a little over EUR 1.25 - the GBP has fallen by around 28% against the EUR in less than 15 years.

Based on its performance over the last 50+ years, those who want to keep the GBP as a national currency because of its strength are either unaware of reality or else deliberately ignore it. On the other hand, those who want to keep it for other reasons will have to factor in its tendency toward weakness.

In the end, the value of anything in its market, currency included, depends on what a would-be buyer perceives its value to be. Among the better known currencies, the GBP is not much of a favourite - but it may well continue to be the world's best in the eyes of those who don't care about the value of "the Pound in their pockets".

[bazwillrun]

If we stay in , then not if but when...we will have the euro forced on us, there will be no choice...there will be only one currency in the new empire

if we stay in we will also lose our country it really is that simple...

[Old_Geezer]

It is said that we still would not have to adopt the Euro. But the thing is they can change their minds at any time if you give them the power to dictate to you. So maybe not for a year or so.

[New Judge]

It is unlikely that the euro in its current form will exist in five year’s time. It is a fundamentally flawed currency foisted on the populace by a similarly flawed Union.

The “strength” of a nation’s currency is not really the critical issue. It is the ability of the country to adjust its value (and the prevailing interest rates) as circumstances dictate. This is why the euro has come close to collapse at least twice. It simply does not suit all of the individual nations using it and the smaller economies are forced to use a currency they cannot afford.

One thing is certain: whatever currency it uses the UK will not be able to control its economy or its currency in its best interests so log as it remains in the EU.

[ToraToraTora]

Karl the EURO started on 1/1/1999, at 1.41 to the pound, in that time it has been at low as 1.1 to the pound and as high as 1.7 to the pound it is currently 1.37. Basically it has taken 16 years to be worth less than it started. Backed by all the so called strong economies of Europe it has been out performed by 1 single economy. https://www.oanda.com/currency/historical-rates/
The Euro will collapse very quickly once they have to boot the bubbles out of it.