Currency exchange sees euro uplift

The currency exchange markets have seen the euro perform well this morning (April 12th) due to an agreement over Greece's sovereign debt.

A total of €30 billion has been arranged as a loan package to the struggling Mediterranean country.

The International Monetary Fund and the 16 other eurozone nations all put forward funding.

However, Greece is hopeful that it will be able to tighten its spending and deal with its budget deficit without taking money from the loan fund.

Despite this, traders' confidence has been boosted by the announcement, pushing the euro up against the major currencies.

The euro rose against the US dollar by 1.22 per cent to buy $1.36 at 08:30 GMT, while the currency was trading against sterling at £0.88.

Gary Jenkins, head of fixed income at Evolution Securities, commented in the Times: "With last week's industrial production figures, down 9.2 per cent against the previous year, and the downgrade by Fitch, the market would not have lent Greece the money if this package had not been agreed."

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Posted by Eleanor Ward