Ladies, Gentleman, it is my honour to announce that the Australian dollar is great again.
Arguably the best time to both travel overseas and to clear out your online shopping wish lists, the Australian dollar is at a two-year high against the greenback. At time of writing, one Aussie dollar would net you 80.34 US Cents, according to XE Currency. Compared to the start of June, you now have 10% more buying power when buying from US-based sites like Urban Outfitters and Hot Topic, or when travelling to the Land Of The Free, baby!
And, surprisingly, we may actually have Donald Trump to thank for this one: several economists have noted that the continued uncertainly within the White House may be driving their dollar down. It’s especially telling when you notice that the Aussie dollar broke the 80 cent barrier at around 6am today, around about when Trump decided that ten days was enough for the Mooch.
Similarly, it’s worth noting that the Aussie dollar is still steady or has slightly dropped against other major currencies, including the British Pound and Japanese Yen. So sucks if you’re going on the ever-popular expat trip to get a bar job in London. It also may not last long: many are expecting the Reserve Bank to try to offset any gains made by the dollar in other ways during their monthly interest rate announcement today.
Although talks of imports and exports are boring as hell, the strength of the Aussie dollar actually has a load of roll-on effects throughout our lives. For example, the last time we were at parity with the greenback coincided with the time when Aussie music festivals were at their prime. The increased buying power of our dollar resulted in a greater ability for promoters to pay for the big headline acts like Rage Against The Machine and Kanye West.
On the flipside, many of the Hollywood blockbusters that have recently filmed or are filming in Australia, including the latest ‘Alien’, ‘Thor’, and ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ films, struck deals while our coin was weaker, meaning it was cheaper for a US studio to pay us then compared to now. Cheapskates.
In any case, why are you still reading? Amazon and ModCloth calls!
The above article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent financial advice before making any financial decisions.
