Trading boost for currency exchange markets

Currency exchange markets have seen a significant increase in trading over the past three years.

A recent report conducted by the Bank for International Settlements has revealed that trading levels increased by 20 per cent.

However, London showed a higher rate of improvement, with a 25 per cent rise.

The UK city was identified as the single-largest centre of foreign exchange dealing, accounting for 37 per cent of global turnover.

Robert Peston, business editor at the BBC, said that around £2.6 trillion changes hands each day through currency exchange markets.

This is the equivalent of the entire output of the global economy being traded around once a fortnight.

Simon Derrick, head of currency research at Bank of New York Mellon, explained the trends to the news source.

"If you look at the currencies where trading volumes have grown, they are typically commodity-backed - like the Australian dollar - or are the fast-growing emerging markets, such as China, Russia, Brazil and Turkey," he said.

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Posted by Eleanor Ward