Currency Profile Of British Pound (Part I)

By Ahmad Hassam

British Pound is also known as the Cable. The name most probably struck in the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. United Kingdom (UK) is the fourth largest economy in the world. UK has a service oriented economy with manufacturing representing a small part of GDP. Manufacturing is only equivalent to one fifth of GDP.

The British capital market systems are one of the most developed in the world and as a result finance and banking has become a strong contributor to the GDP. London is still the forex center of the world. London Stock Exchange is still the second most important stock exchange in the world after the New York Stock Exchange.

The energy production industry accounts for 10% of GDP which is one of the highest shares of any industrialized nation. Although majority of UK GDP is from services, UK is the largest producer and exporter of natural gas to EU.

This is important for forex traders as increases in energy prices such as oil will significantly benefit the large number of UK oil exporters. Overall, UK is a net importer of goods with a consistent trade deficit.

The two main trading partners for UK are the EU and the US. The United States on an individual basis still remains UKs largest trading partner. However, the largest trading partner of UK is the EU. Trade between UK and EU accounts for almost 50% of UK imports and exports activities!

The leading import sources for UK are Germany, France, United States, Belgium and the Netherlands. The leading exports markets for UK exporters are the United States, France, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands.

UK had rejected adopting Euro as its currency in June 2003. However, the possibility of Euro adoption will still be in the backs of minds of pound traders for many years to come. Now, if UK decides to join EMU, it will have significant ramifications for its economy.

One of the primary arguments used against adopting the Euro is that UK has sound macroeconomic policies that have worked very well for the country. The most important of these ramifications is the adjustment of UK interest rate with the Eurozone interest rate in case UK decides to join EMU.

There are many arguments in favor of Euro entry and many against.UK is a highly political country with government officials highly concerned about the voter approval ratings. Right now Brits are not in favor of a Euro entry. The voter opinion can change overtime. However, if the voters do not support Euro entry, the likelihood of EMU entry will decline.

Bank of England: The monetary policy of UK is under the control of The Bank of England (BOE). BOE is the UKs central bank. The Monetary Policy Committee is the nine member committee that sets the monetary policy for UK. The committee was granted operational independence in 1997. It consists of a governor, two deputy governor, two executive directors of the central bank and four outside experts.

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