The Australian dollar went under US 76 cents, for the first
time since May 2009, yesterday, as the economy adjusts following the mining boom.
Business Insider reports that the Aussie bottomed out at US
75.58 cents overnight.
The dollar’s fall under 76 has been welcomed by the
manufacturing and services industries, though remains overvalued, according to
the Reserve Bank of Australia’s Assistant Governor Christopher Kent.
“While the depreciation seen to date will be helpful, our
assessment is that our exchange rate remains relatively high given the state of
our overall economy,” AAP reports Kent as saying.
Other positives cited by Kent included weak wages growth and
a recent uptick in productivity.
Fairfax reports that the Australian dollar is down about 20 per cent, trade-weighted, since its mid-2013 peak.
Executives are currently working to make the best of the
decline in the currency’s value.
Anthony Halas, the CEO of Seafolly – which designs its
swimwear in Australia, manufactures in China, is sold in Europe, North America
and Asia – told The Australian Financial Review his feelings were mixed regarding the current exchange rate.
Seafolly’s offshore branches worked as a kind of “insurance
policy” regarding fluctuations.
“The value of my sales to America are going up at a
very rapid rate and that feels good; so I guess I have mixed feelings about the
low dollar,” he told The AFR.
“It’s possibly a good reminder to others that there is a big
world out there and we need to look beyond our own shores, be less reliant on
the local market, and look for opportunities elsewhere.”
Image: ABC