Good morning and welcome to today\u2019s foreign exchange market commentary on Wednesday, the 15th of February.<\/p>\n
The Eurogroup ministers meeting scheduled to take place yesterday on the proposed rescue package has been postponed till Monday. The ministers called off the meeting accusing Athens of not meeting two vital conditions. First Greece is yet to articulate the measures for an additional \u20ac325 million in budget cuts. Also, the country in probability will witness a snap poll in April. EU leaders have demanded a written commitment from Greek leaders that all austerity measures promised to IMF and EU creditors will be duly honoured, irrespective of the electoral outcome.<\/p>\n
However, global markets rose after China expressed willingness on Tuesday to buy European debts. Zhou Xiaochuan, the Chinese central bank governor repeated premier Wen Jiabao\u2019s statement that China may increase euro denominated assets purchase to support the union. However, there was no clarification if Beijing will support the EFSF or the ESM, or rather buy debts from individual members. The possibility is that Beijing may buy securities through the IMF\u2019s $1 trillion rescue package. That way, its holdings will be more secured and will give the country more voice in the global lending institution.<\/p>\n
CURRENCY RATES OVERVIEW<\/strong><\/p>\n GBP\/EURO<\/strong> \u2013\u00a01.1936
\nGBP\/US$<\/strong> \u2013 1.5721
\nGBP\/CHF<\/strong> \u2013 1.4414
\nGBP\/CAN$<\/strong> – 1.5648
\nGBP\/AUS$<\/strong> \u2013 1.4636
\nGBP\/ZAR<\/strong> \u2013 12.0868
\nGBP\/JPY<\/strong> \u2013\u00a0123.36
\nGBP\/HKD<\/strong> \u2013\u00a012.1874
\nGBP\/NZD<\/strong> \u2013 1.8762
\nGBP\/SEK<\/strong> \u2013\u00a0 10.4795<\/p>\n