Despite the UK CPI hitting forecasts, Pound Sterling (GBP) lost ground to the Euro (EUR) and trended narrowly against the US Dollar (USD)
The euro fell sharply against the British pound and the US dollar exchange rates after European Commission President issued warning over state of EZ growth.
Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, has warned that economic recovery in the Eurozone is still fragile during an EU parliamentary debate.
According to Juncker: ‘From my perspective, the crisis is not over and there should be no complacency. Even if we are helped by the action of the European Central Bank, we have only a short window of opportunity to press ahead with our agenda for reforms.’
Also in attendance was Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch Finance Minister, who also highlighted concerns about overly relying on loose monetary policy in the long term.
Here's a quick roundup of the foreign currency rates today:
The Pound to Euro exchange rate: GBP/EUR converts at 1.371 (-0.005 change from yesterday)
The euro to pound exchange rate converts at 1 EUR is 0.729 GBP.
The euro to swiss franc exchange rate: EUR/CHF conversion is 1.078.
The euro to canadian dollar exchange rate today is trending at 1.511 EUR/CAD.
The euro to us dollar exchange rate today is trending at 1.096 EUR/USD.
Please note: the FX rates above, updated 16th Dec 2015, will have a commission applied by your typical high street bank. Currency brokers specialise in these type of foreign currency transactions and can save you up to 5% on international payments compared to the banks.
The UK Consumer Price Index has risen from -0.1% to 0.1% year-on-year (YoY), with the core index increasing from 1.1% to 1.2% as predicted, although pound exchange rates continue to decline against most currencies, including the Euro (EUR).
A slower fall in the price of diesel and petrol than during the same period last year has been mostly responsible for the rise in the UK CPI, although declining fuel prices continue to hamper inflation growth, keeping Sterling weak against currencies like the US Dollar.
Pound Sterling is currently down 0.3% against the Euro and trending narrowly within the negative range against the US Dollar.
While the UK CPI data is positive, the release has highlighted the fact that inflation continues to fall well below the Bank of England (BoE) target rate of 2%.
These figures show that UK CPI has remained close to, or at, zero for 10 months in a row.
Last year’s drops in oil prices will stop weighing so heavily on the data in the coming months, allowing inflation to rise, although experts predict that the continuing decline in commodity prices will continue to hold inflation below the BoE target.
