25 August 2021
As US Vice-President Kamala Harris wraps up her Asia tour this week, I was curious to see how currency prices have moved since the Biden-Harris administration took office on 20 January 2021. I see a battle for currency preference between the United States, the Eurozone, and China and so far, seven months into the Biden-Harris administration, the Eurozone is being left behind.
Where the dollar, the yuan, and the euro are priced in terms of the ringgit, Indian rupee, and the yen, the yuan has seen the greatest price increase since 20 January 2021. For example, during the period 20 January 2021 to 25 August 2021, USD/JPY increased 6%; USD/MYR increased 4%, and the USD/INR increased 1.8% for an average of 3.93%.
During the same period, the CNY/JPY increased 6%; CNY/MYR increased 14%; and the CNY/INR increased 1.6% for an average of 7.2%.
Meanwhile, the euro got the least love with EUR/JPY increasing 2.9%; EUR/MYR relatively flat at 0.008%; and EUR/INR decreasing by 1.29%. Using this bucket of Asian currencies, average euro increase is around .54%
In the immediate run, I don’t see dollar or euro prices in terms of the ringgit, yen, or Indian rupee increasing especially if Asian economies are somehow able to increase their respective economies productive capacities and increase trade with each other, taking advantage of their resource-rich environments. The Harris-Biden administration’s fall in polling numbers as a result of perceived mismanagement of American withdrawal from Afghanistan and less than stellar campaign to get more of the American population vaccinated may likely weigh on the effectiveness of Ms Harris’ attempt to garner strategic trading partners in the region.
Alton Drew
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Foreign exchange rates of interest as of 10:20 am EST
| Currency Pair | Federal Reserve | Reuters |
| AUS/USD | 0.7133 | 0.7254 |
| USD/BRL | 5.3990 | 5.2419 |
| USD/CAD | 1.2853 | 1.2623 |
| USD/CNY | 6.5012 | 6.4771 |
| USD/DKK | 6.3612 | 6.3337 |
| EUR/USD | 1.1690 | 1.1739 |
| USD/HKD | 7.7897 | 7.7840 |
| USD/INR | 74.3500 | 74.2250 |
| USD/JPY | 109.7700 | 109.9300 |
| NZD/USD | 0.6830 | 0.6949 |
| USD/MYR | 4.2385 | 4.2020 |
Alton Drew 