HL Deb 28 July 2000 vol 616 cc113-4WA
Lord Monson

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by Lord McIntosh of Haringey on 20 July (WA 106) on sterling exchange rates, whether, 18 months after the euro was first traded on 4 January 1999, the pound sterling had:

  1. (a) strengthened against the Swiss franc and the euro, together with currencies formally or informally linked to the euro;
  2. (b) weakened against the United States dollar, Canadian dollar, Mexican new peso, Japanese yen, South Korean won, Taiwan dollar, Saudi riyal and Israeli shekel;
    3. WA114
  3. (c) moved by less than 6 per cent either way against the Norwegian krone, Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar and South African rand;
  4. (d) remained virtually unchanged against the Swedish krona; and
  5. (e) weakened slightly against the Indian rupee and the Thai baht;
and whether, from a global perspective., sterling is excessively strong. [HL3708]

Lord McIntosh of Haringey

The information requested can be derived from sterling exchange rates on the 4 of January 1999 and the 4 of July 2000. These were published on page 33 of the 5 January 1999 and 5 July 2000 editions of theFinancial Times respectively.