The Rising Cost of Foreign Currency

09:53.46 - Friday 5th September 2008   (Link to This Entry)

As part of the preparations for our upcoming trip to Tokyo we obviously need some cash, so I've been keeping one eye on the value of ¥200,000 - roughly £1,000 - in the run up to departure.

When I initially started watching it was £980 which wasn't too different from the last time time I went in 2006, but I checked a week ago and was surprised to find it had stealthily climbed to £1,045, prompting me to buy my currency before it got any worse.

Good job I did, too. K bought his a few days later and paid £20 more. I decided to keep one eye on the cost of ¥200,000 via the Post Office's currency site and this is what happened: One week later the cost has risen 6%! So what's causing this? Obviously the Pound is falling in value at the moment due to the Credit Crunch, but there has to be another reason - is the Japanese economy having a boom time at the moment?

I may update the graph at the end of next week if the cost continues to rise. I'm sure it will, but this rate is pretty unsustainable.

Update:
As of Monday, the price has actually come down a little. ¥200,000 now costs £1,076.54.