EXCHANGE RATES A country's trade-weighted exchange rate is an average of its bilateral rates with its trading partners, weighted by the amount it trades with each of them. The measure captures the effect of currency changes on the competitiveness of a country's exports—the higher the rate, the costlier they are. In the past nine months, the prices of German and French goods have continued to fall. Having climbed 15% between 1990 and the second quarter of 1995, the trade-weighted D-mark has since fallen by 11%. Japanese goods and services have become rather costlier in the past three quarters, although the trade-weighted value of the yen is still one-fifth lower than its peak in the third quarter of 1995. British and American exports, however, are more expensive than they were nine months ago. The value of the pound has risen by 6%, and the dollar has climbed by 8%.
This article appeared in the Financial Indicators section of the print edition under the headline "EXCHANGE RATES"
From the August 23rd 1997 edition
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