Pound-Euro 2016

[Jimbo]

It's all very complex - but it's very unlikely that Le Pen will win. I'd anticipate changes in the EU over the next few years to solidify the economy.

Pound down this evening to 1.1601

[Jimbo]

Same old, same old. TravelFX (awarded best source for euros by the Telegraph this week) at 1.1640

This looks about the current going rate. Elections have not shifted it. So a 3 euro beer costs £2.57. Looking forward to them!

[Waspman]

Got a good rate of 1.175 today

[Jimbo]

Yes - It was in the 1.16 range and then popped up slightly! It's all very volatile at the moment with elections etc.

[Jimbo]

The pound against the dollar is very strong. But the eurozone has strengthened as a result of very good German export and production figures.

In the UK the pound has weakened as a result of the Manchester atrocity and election uncertainty. TravelFX is at 1.1378

Not a good time to buy travel money, alas.

[Waspman]

Got 1.186 on my Clarity card last week Jimbo

[Jimbo]

That was last week. Interbank rate is 1.1544 at the moment.

[Jimbo]

The pound has been sinking rapidly - the Interbank rate is now 1.1449 and TravelFX rate is 1.1295.

Commentators say that this is because the Tory lead in the election polls has been slashed down to 5% over Labour. That would mean the Tory overall majority would drop from 17 to 2. One major cause is old people worried about their inheritance, caused by the own-goal in the Tory manifesto.

This is obviously not a very good time to buy euros! International finance clearly has more faith in the polls than most of us. (Ironically, Mrs May's popularity has risen from -7 earlier this week to +1, whilst Mr Corbyn's has dropped from -11 to -16).  Unless desperate it might be a good idea to wait until after June 8th before buying cash.

Oh- and there's a rail strike in Greece on Tuesday. Fortunately, for British visitors at least, most flights to Corfu arrive on Friday or Monday, and the fact that there will be no 11:27 from Kerkyra to Avliotes will cause no problems.

[Tredegar Boy]

Wait til 9th June is sound advice unless Corbyn wins then the rate will fall to around 1.07/1.08 according to the experts.

It will be like the book A very British Coup.

[Tredegar Boy]

A rail strike will have a miniumum affect as the Greeks, as a proportion of the population use the railways the least in Europe.

[Jimbo]

I suspect that's because they don't have many!

[Jimbo]

Pound to euro rate is hovering around 1.13 on TravelFX. Not good. YouGov poll has the Tory lead down to 3%

But it's also true that Agios Stefanos is the best value for money of any place in Greece that I know.

[Tredegar Boy]

The Yougov poll has a margin of error which could see Labour gain 29 seats or the Tories have a majority of 50. Pointless.

[Jimbo]

But the bookies are taking it seriously.  Corbyn's odds have shortened from 14/1 to 4/1, and all the polls are showing that the gap is closing.

[Tredegar Boy]

The latest Kantar, ICM and ComRes don't. They have a tory lead of 10%, 12% and 14% respectively. And as for the bookies in the last 2 years they've have got some elections spectacularly wrong - 2015 general election odds on hung parliament, 2016 Brexit vote odds on too remain, Trump in America odds on to lose and we know how they all turned out.