Currency and coronavirus
SO FAR, 2020 has been dominated by the coronavirus crisis, with the world going into lockdown to try to contain the pandemic. All the uncertainty and upheaval has inspired significant movement in the currency market, as has concern about the impact of the lockdown on the global economy. The US dollar has benefited from the chaos, with investors flooding to safe-haven currencies.
The pound and euro, on the other hand, haven’t been faring so well, with the pound initially tumbling at the start of March as investors criticised the UK government’s early reaction to containing the virus and the euro feeling the pressure as the situations in Italy and Spain escalated.
The GBP/USD exchange rate notably dropped to its worst levels in 35 years, while EUR/USD approached parity.
The pound has since recovered some of its losses, though and is performing well against currencies like the Israeli shekel.
GBP/ILS briefly hit its best levels since June 2019, while USD/ILS skyrocketed to an over three-year high before trimming some of these gains.
With the coronavirus crisis ongoing and no end in sight for the foreseeable future, further currency volatility is likely.
But all this market movement can make it difficult to pick the right time to move your money.
If you need to move money to or from Israel and are concerned about the potential impact of the latest market movements, companies like Currencies Direct offer a range of handy services to help you protect your currency transfers.
MARKET INSIGHTS
Your currency transfer provider can keep you updated with the latest market movements and provide invaluable insights about potential future shifts.
SPOT CONTRACTS
With a spot transfer, you agree your exchange rate, send your funds to your transfer provider and the money will be in your destination account as soon as possible.
FORWARD CONTRACTS
If you’re not in a rush to make a transfer but you like the look of the current exchange rate, you can use a forward contract to fix it. With Currencies Direct you simply pay a small deposit and it will hold the exchange rate for up to a year.
LIMIT ORDERS
If you have an exchange rate in mind and time is on your side, a limit order can be really useful. Tell your currency transfer provider your target exchange rate and it will make the transfer automatically as soon as that target rate is hit.
REGULAR TRANSFERS
If you need to move money abroad on a regular basis to cover things like mortgage payments, pension transfers or topping up your living funds, a currency transfer provider can help you automate these payments and avoid transfer fees.
RATE ALERTS
Tell your provider what rate you’d like to achieve and it will send you a text or email as soon as the market moves to that level.
This article was provided by Currencies Direct, a multi award-winning currency transfer provider which has more than 500 employees and a dedicated Israel team.
For more information, see currenciesdirect.com/jc or contact israel@currenciesdirect.com