Aussie Dollar Booming

[Simmo]

Never thought I'd see the day the AUD would approach the USD here.

Current Onshore rates.

1AUD = 29.9 baht

1USD = 33.8 baht.

Rock on. Now if only I could have held of that condo purchase for 6 months .. doh ...

[youthnasia]

But I see xrates.com being...

1AUD = 25.87

or is this an "Off-shore" rate.

So, if I was in Thailand at the moment, does this mean I would be getting 29.9 THB or 25.87 THB for the AUS dollar?

Where does one get the Onshore rates from?

[Simmo]

But I see xrates.com being...

1AUD = 25.87

or is this an "Off-shore" rate.

So, if I was in Thailand at the moment, does this mean I would be getting 29.9 THB or 25.87 THB for the AUS dollar?

Where does one get the Onshore rates from?

Yes , thats offshore rate.

Look here, for an idea of the onshore rates.

http://www.scb.co.th/html/exchange/bk-txtexchange.htm

Right now if you walked into that bank they would buy your AUD at the rate of 29.3

[youthnasia]

Thanks Simmo.

One more question.....if I had a AUS withdrawal card and took funds from an ATM in Thailand, would it use the Onshore or Offshore rates?

[Farma]

I've found withdrawals through the ATM's generally give me a slightly higher rate to the AUS bank note buying rates listed on Bangkok bank site.http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok+Bank/Web+Services/Rates/FX+Rates.htm

[Simmo]

Thanks Simmo.

One more question.....if I had a AUS withdrawal card and took funds from an ATM in Thailand, would it use the Onshore or Offshore rates?

The Onshore rate - I got 29.8 on an ATM a few days ago . Of course your bank ATM charges & international transaction fees eat into that ( I get charges of $4 AUD in fees per withdrawl with Commonwealth).

The question I'd like to know is what rate (onshore ~26 or offshore ~29) you would get using a Thai savings account ATM card in Australia. Does anyone know, I can smell a profit somehow ?.

[backflip]

"I can smell a profit somehow"

That fetid odor is not one of profit. There's a difference between "smell" and "stink".

Edited July 24, 2007 by backflip

[youthnasia]

The Onshore rate - I got 29.8 on an ATM a few days ago . Of course your bank ATM charges & international transaction fees eat into that ( I get charges of $4 AUD in fees per withdrawl with Commonwealth).

Wizard has a Mastercard that has no annual fee and no international transaction fees. I believe Commonwealth Bank now charges $5 for international transaction fees.

[PeaceBlondie]

Our friend is expecting another receipt from Australia, equal to several million baht. Since it appears he is now able to hold foreign-denominated funds in a Thai bank in Thailand, he's instructed his lawyer to send the money in AUD. He hopes to convert it to baht later, and suffer less loss, or earn a higher rate. Does that sound right?

[samran]

interesting to see the difference in how Australia and Thailand are reacting to this all.

Australia is shrugging its shoulders and getting on with it to a large extent. Thailand is crying and screaming and trying to control the exchange rate...again.

Amaxing what 25 years of economic reform does to ones perspective.

[JBL]

The question is will it keep climbing?

As we comming to LOS in Sept,

we generally transfer AUS$ to my wifes BoB account and get the slightly better exchange rate

For awhile we carried cash from Australia and deposited it apon arrival but never felt comfortable carrying heaps of cash

I did find that the Bank of Bangkok had better exchange rates in the city branches than @ the airport

[steveromagnino]

interesting to see the difference in how Australia and Thailand are reacting to this all.

Australia is shrugging its shoulders and getting on with it to a large extent. Thailand is crying and screaming and trying to control the exchange rate...again.

Amaxing what 25 years of economic reform does to ones perspective.

My own reasoning on that, is that Australians due to their accent cannot say exchange without is sound like the sound a lawnmower makes when it runs into a stick.

As a result, they prefer not to discuss it.

as for the rates.....

29.8 baht to 1 Aussie dollar? Tell him he's dreamin'.

[Donnyboy]

the kiwi dollar is doing well as well

actually in the past year its up 10% against the Aussie dollar and now its 81 cents NZ to $US -31%, and yen 34%

dont expect the kiwi exporters will be that happy either.

Not good for local economy.

[JimsKnight]

If the Aussie dollar gets stronger some might consider changing their currency into it and then into Thai baht! Or will that just not work???

[samran]

the kiwi dollar is doing well as well

actually in the past year its up 10% against the Aussie dollar and now its 81 cents NZ to $US -31%, and yen 34%

dont expect the kiwi exporters will be that happy either.

Not good for local economy.

actually, the strong currency reflects the booming economies in OZ and NZ. People want what these countries produce, and this is reflected to an extent in the economy. People feel that it is a safe place to invest, so they plonk their money there.

A flexible exhange rate means that things are helped kept in check. A stong exchange rate means that imports are cheaper, meaning that there is one less factor pushing inflation. Lower inflation means relatively lower interest rates than would otherwise been- all other things being equal.

[think_too_mut]

interesting to see the difference in how Australia and Thailand are reacting to this all.

Australia is shrugging its shoulders and getting on with it to a large extent. Thailand is crying and screaming and trying to control the exchange rate...again.

Amaxing what 25 years of economic reform does to ones perspective.

Yes, a reform - but in China. Australia has always had the minerals and coal...it's now that China is insatiable. Every week they open one new coal burning electrical plant. And nobody sees them stop importing Oz raw materials any time soon...

A friend sent me this picture. 85 ships waiting at Newcastle port for their load of coal for China. And they are tanker size vessels each.

Edited July 25, 2007 by think_too_mut

[Pink Mist]

interesting to see the difference in how Australia and Thailand are reacting to this all.

Australia is shrugging its shoulders and getting on with it to a large extent. Thailand is crying and screaming and trying to control the exchange rate...again.

Amaxing what 25 years of economic reform does to ones perspective.

Yes, a reform - but in China. Australia has always had the minerals and coal...it's now that China is insatiable. Every week they open one new coal burning electrical plant. And nobody sees them stop importing Oz raw materials any time soon...

A friend sent me this picture. 85 ships waiting at Newcastle port for their load of coal for China. And they are tanker size vessels each.

there was one even waiting on the beach for a couple of weeks

seriously, now it looks like interest rates are goin up at the next meeting of the RBA

[sceadugenga]

But I see xrates.com being...

1AUD = 25.87

or is this an "Off-shore" rate.

So, if I was in Thailand at the moment, does this mean I would be getting 29.9 THB or 25.87 THB for the AUS dollar?

Where does one get the Onshore rates from?

Yes , thats offshore rate.

Look here, for an idea of the onshore rates.

http://www.scb.co.th/html/exchange/bk-txtexchange.htm

Right now if you walked into that bank they would buy your AUD at the rate of 29.3

Many thanks for that link Simmo, the offshore rates in other sites have confused me on a number of occasions.

[samran]

interesting to see the difference in how Australia and Thailand are reacting to this all.

Australia is shrugging its shoulders and getting on with it to a large extent. Thailand is crying and screaming and trying to control the exchange rate...again.

Amaxing what 25 years of economic reform does to ones perspective.

Yes, a reform - but in China. Australia has always had the minerals and coal...it's now that China is insatiable. Every week they open one new coal burning electrical plant. And nobody sees them stop importing Oz raw materials any time soon...

A friend sent me this picture. 85 ships waiting at Newcastle port for their load of coal for China. And they are tanker size vessels each.

great pic there!

What I meant was reform in Australia. Privatisation, deregulation of industries and opening up of markets etc etc that happened in the 1980's and early 1990's. Painfly then, but paying dividends now. They've made Australian companies more competitive, so that the first whiff of a high dollar they are not all going to fall over - unlike Thai companies that have been relying on cheap labour - and not much else.

[think_too_mut]

interesting to see the difference in how Australia and Thailand are reacting to this all.

Australia is shrugging its shoulders and getting on with it to a large extent. Thailand is crying and screaming and trying to control the exchange rate...again.

Amaxing what 25 years of economic reform does to ones perspective.

Yes, a reform - but in China. Australia has always had the minerals and coal...it's now that China is insatiable. Every week they open one new coal burning electrical plant. And nobody sees them stop importing Oz raw materials any time soon...

A friend sent me this picture. 85 ships waiting at Newcastle port for their load of coal for China. And they are tanker size vessels each.

there was one even waiting on the beach for a couple of weeks

seriously, now it looks like interest rates are goin up at the next meeting of the RBA

Pasha Bulker. They refloated her 2 weeks ago.

Edited July 25, 2007 by think_too_mut

[Donnyboy]

the kiwi dollar is doing well as well

actually in the past year its up 10% against the Aussie dollar and now its 81 cents NZ to $US -31%, and yen 34%

dont expect the kiwi exporters will be that happy either.

Not good for local economy.

actually, the strong currency reflects the booming economies in OZ and NZ. People want what these countries produce, and this is reflected to an extent in the economy. People feel that it is a safe place to invest, so they plonk their money there.

A flexible exhange rate means that things are helped kept in check. A stong exchange rate means that imports are cheaper, meaning that there is one less factor pushing inflation. Lower inflation means relatively lower interest rates than would otherwise been- all other things being equal.

re strong NZ dollar, I thought it was to do with the house situation (inverse to the US) where the housing market was overheated, thus the governer of the resrve bank has raised the interest rates (a number times now) to try cool the market. The high rate of interest has meant a huge flow of foreign currency( i think mainly Japanese) to enter the market and park their funds there. Yes imports will be cheaper but Im sure the exporters (mainly to US and EU) wont be pleased. The exporters have mainly been ok due to most of NZs exports going across the tasman.

The high local interest rates will slow the local economy due to the average family man with a mortgage will be starting to feel the pinch. He might be asset rich but poor in liquid terms. We shall see.

Im not an economist or financial guru but thats what I understand it to be. Good thread btw.

[bendix]

yeap, the Japanese - and other investors - are borrowing funds in low-rate jurisdictions such as Japan and reinvesting them in relatively safe markets like NZ. Makes sense. Borrow a million bucks at 0.5%, park it in NZ and earn 7%. Monitor exchange rates carefully. Nice little earner.

RBNZ is also looking at possible rate hike this week or next.

[think_too_mut]

yeap, the Japanese - and other investors - are borrowing funds in low-rate jurisdictions such as Japan and reinvesting them in relatively safe markets like NZ. Makes sense. Borrow a million bucks at 0.5%, park it in NZ and earn 7%. Monitor exchange rates carefully. Nice little earner.

RBNZ is also looking at possible rate hike this week or next.

I don't think Japanese are borrowing money to buy NZ$.

An average Japanese household has 120K US$ in savings, sitting in a JP bank and attracting interest that is not worth mentioning.

If there are 40 million Japanese households, if only 1 million of them reach for NZ$ that makes an impact.

That's what they do: move their local savings into the same bank's account - actually into the "foreign currency account" that is in NZ$. Then, it goes as if the funds were in NZ.

There was an article titled "Japanese grannies make NZ$ surge".

[bkkandrew]

yeap, the Japanese - and other investors - are borrowing funds in low-rate jurisdictions such as Japan and reinvesting them in relatively safe markets like NZ. Makes sense. Borrow a million bucks at 0.5%, park it in NZ and earn 7%. Monitor exchange rates carefully. Nice little earner.

RBNZ is also looking at possible rate hike this week or next.

I don't think Japanese are borrowing money to buy NZ$.

An average Japanese household has 120K US$ in savings, sitting in a JP bank and attracting interest that is not worth mentioning.

If there are 40 million Japanese households, if only 1 million of them reach for NZ$ that makes an impact.

That's what they do: move their local savings into the same bank's account - actually into the "foreign currency account" that is in NZ$. Then, it goes as if the funds were in NZ.

There was an article titled "Japanese grannies make NZ$ surge".

I read a similar article in the FT about them having the same effect on Sterling...

[think_too_mut]

I read a similar article in the FT about them having the same effect on Sterling...

yes, it's a known thing.

For the grannies, it does not require any skills. Go to the bank, open a "foreign currency account" - most have already had that - and tell the clerk to move the funds.

It's not what the press would suggest - JP grannies sitting behind the computer and speculate.

No, no computer or anything high tech is involved.

[Donnyboy]

I read a similar article in the FT about them having the same effect on Sterling...

yes, it's a known thing.

For the grannies, it does not require any skills. Go to the bank, open a "foreign currency account" - most have already had that - and tell the clerk to move the funds.

It's not what the press would suggest - JP grannies sitting behind the computer and speculate.

No, no computer or anything high tech is involved.

more here

[LaoPo]

New Zealand, Australian Dollars Plunge as Carry Trades Dumped

July 27 (Bloomberg) -- New Zealand's dollar fell the most versus the yen since 2005 and Australia's by the most in almost six years as a rout in global stocks spurred investors to cut holdings of higher-yielding assets bought with Japan's currency.

The two currencies are favorites of the so-called carry trade because their interest rates are among the highest of major economies. New Zealand's dollar slid to a six-week low and Australia's to the least in seven weeks versus the yen as investors rushed to buy safer assets as U.S. stocks fell the most since February. Government bonds of the two nations surged.

``There is more downside to come for these two currencies,'' said Paul Milton, chief dealer at Societe Generale SA in Sydney. ``The carry unwind needed some sort of trigger and equities brought that.''

New Zealand's dollar slumped 4.1 percent, the biggest decline since Dec. 15, 2005, to 91.83 yen at 4:16 p.m. in Tokyo from 95.75 yen in Asia yesterday. It also dropped 2.7 percent to 77.48 U.S. cents from 79.60 cents, a third day of losses since reaching 81.10 cents on July 24, the strongest since the currency started trading freely in March 1985.

The Australian dollar fell 4.5 percent, the most since September 2001, to 101.66 yen from 106.36 yen yesterday. It declined 2.9 percent to 85.83 U.S. cents from 88.42 cents after reaching 88.71 cents on July 25, the highest since February 1989.

Rest here:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...refer=australia

LaoPo

[JimGant]

Our friend is expecting another receipt from Australia, equal to several million baht. Since it appears he is now able to hold foreign-denominated funds in a Thai bank in Thailand, he's instructed his lawyer to send the money in AUD

The prevailing wisdom, even before this current huge offshore/onshore spread, was to wire 'home country' currency and have it converted to baht on the Thai end. (And, conversely, wire baht to the 'home country' -- if possible, which it doesn't seem to be under current conditions.)

So, even if your friend's money will sit in a foreign-denominated fund, or will be converted to baht upon arrival, he should send AUDs.