Currency report

Press, 12 February 1979, Page 22

Currency report

The continuing political 11 uncertainties in Iran haven caused a sharp drop in the I: value of the United States! dollar against other major 1 : currencies, says the Bank of): New South Wales in its)] weekly foreign exchange re-if port. Ii A major factor in this I ’ depreciation was the newsl last Monday that Iran had : cancelled weapons contracts ' with the United States)' worth about S7OOOM. There has been some': intervention, although 1 limited, by the Bank of : Japan and European Central i Banks to support the dollar. : Earlier in the week some : I firming had been evidenced as operators considered that 11

the United States dollar’s : medium term outlook was I solidly based. i United States plans for a second offering of Deutsch'mark securities in the ■ present quarter and another i foreign currency denomiI nated offering next quarter i were also beneficial. Sterling has remained steady with high United Kingdom interest rates providing support. An announcement was made in Tokyo on Tuesday that Japan will drop its re- i serve requirements on non-I resident free yen accounts. In response to the fall in the value of the United States dollar gold firmed SUSI 9 during last week. ■