Are Fiscal Deficits Really Depreciating?

Are Fiscal Deficits Really Depreciating?
Wads of British Pound Sterling banknotes are stacked in piles, at the Money Service Austria company's headquarters in Vienna, Austria, on Nov. 16, 2017. Leonhard Foeger/Reuters
Law Ka-chung
Updated:
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Commentary

The slump of the Pound Sterling last week was said to be a reaction to the UK’s new Prime Minister Liz Truss’ tax cut proposal. An exchange rate represents the purchasing power of money. An excess of it results in depreciation. A government planning to finance its budget deficits by printing money will be bound to devalue a currency. This is the story behind the Sterling crisis. Simple as it appears, however, there are technicalities in operationalizing such a hypothesis. Moreover, there are also other factors beyond the fiscal sector that affects the exchange rate.

Law Ka-chung
Law Ka-chung
Author
Law Ka-chung is a commentator on global macroeconomics and markets. He has been writing numerous newspaper and magazine columns and talking about markets on various TV, radio, and online channels in Hong Kong since 2005. He covers all types of economics and finance topics in the United States, Europe, and Asia, ranging from macroeconomic theories to market outlook for equities, currencies, rates, yields, and commodities. He has been the chief economist and strategist at a Hong Kong branch of the fifth-largest Chinese bank for more than 12 years. He has a Ph.D. in Economics, MSc in Mathematics, and MSc in Astrophysics.
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