Finance Ministers Likely To Speak Out Against Global Currency War At Moscow G20 Meeting

Published: Friday, 15 February 2013 16:00 BST - Written by Toni Johnson

STORY LINK Finance Ministers Likely To Speak Out Against Global Currency War At Moscow G20 Meeting

The Pound ha enjoyed a generally positive session so far today, in spite of this morning’s worryingly weak January Retail Sales data for the UK. The Pound initially lost significant ground against the other majors in the aftermath of the release, however the UK tender’s initial losses were subsequently wiped out as analysts pointed out that the lower than expected showing for last month’s shop sales was largely attributable to the heavy snowfall which last parts of mainland Britain had seen during the period in question.

Meanwhile, market participants’ focus during this weekend’s close is likely to fall on Moscow, where the G20 group of Finance Ministers meets to discuss the current global financial situation. It appears likely that the summit will see the collected representatives of the world’s leading economic nations renew their commitment to steering the global economy away from a potentially damaging ‘currency war’ which would see nations compete with each other in a race to weaken their respective currency at the fastest possible pace. It is highly probable that the meeting will bring criticism towards Japan because of its recent actions which have seen the value of the Yen to tumble against the other sixteen most-actively traded global currencies.

Elsewhere, a report published by PriceWaterhouseCoopers earlier today predicted that shale oil and gas, which are extracted from the ground via the controversial process of ‘fracking’, could provide a boost of some £1.7tn to the global economy over the next two decades. The release came as particularly good news for North America, which has pioneered the process and enjoys a ‘first mover advantage’. With large areas of the USA and Canada thought to be ripe for harvesting shale oil and gas via fracking, the US and Canadian Dollars, which have enjoyed a good run in the currency markets over the past 2-3 years, could be set for further upside.

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