Our Articles

Enjoy,comment and share

Recent Posts

Categories

RSS International Monetary Fund

RSS World Trade Organization — Latest news

  • Items proposed for consideration at the next meeting of Dispute Settlement Body February 28, 2020
    The WTO Secretariat has circulated a meeting notice and list of items proposed for the next meeting, on 28 February 2020, of the Dispute Settlement Body, which consists of all WTO members and oversees legal disputes among them. The meeting notice is circulated in the form of a document officially called an “airgram”.
    WTO
  • US donates USD 600,000 to further developing countries’ trading capacities February 25, 2020
    The United States contributed USD 600,000 (CHF 590,000) in 2019 to help developing and least-developed countries (LCDs) participate effectively in global trade negotiations. This donation will finance training workshops for officials from WTO member governments to help them deepen their understanding of multilateral trade rules and strengthen their negotiating capacity.
    WTO
  • Lithuania donates EUR 50,000 to enhance developing countries’ trading capacity February 24, 2020
    Lithuania is contributing EUR 50,000 (CHF 53,000) to help developing and least-developed countries take an active part in global trade negotiations. The contribution was acknowledged by Director-General Roberto Azevêdo at a meeting with Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Linas Linkevičius, on 24 February 2020.
    WTO
  • Third anniversary of Trade Facilitation Agreement sees increasing implementation rate February 22, 2020
    Three years since the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) entered into force on 22 February 2017, WTO members have continued to make steady progress in its implementation. Director-General Roberto Azevêdo, on the occasion of the TFA’s third anniversary, welcomed members’ efforts to ensure traders can reap the full benefits of the Agreement.
    WTO

Forward contracts



 

 

Forward contracts  enable to avoid adverse impacts of currency fluctuations.Indeed Importers and exporters who are engaged in transactions denominated in foreign currency can benefit from using this hedging tool.

A forward contract is a firm engagement to deliver a certain amount of foreign currency at a given date and at a fixed exchange rate.

Let’s take the example of Spanish Importer who concluded a 10 565 240 USD (10 M EUR) deal with a US Exporter with a 90-day payment term. Note that at the time of the agreement, the exchange rate was 1 EUR = 1.0565 USD. In order to avoid the risk engendered by a potential rise of the USD, the importer will ask his Bank for a 3month forward exchange rate.

The Banker will proceed as follows:

He will borrow 10 M EUR with a 1% interest rate during 3 months.

He will then buy USD and invest them for 1.5% yield during three months.

Based on the preceding the banker will offer a 3 month rate of: 1 EUR=1.0578 USD

1.0565 * (1+90/360* 0.015) / (1+90/360*0.01) = 1.0578

In this case the fact that the 3 months forward exchange rate is higher than the spot rate is explained by the better yield in USA.

Therefore, by entering into a foreign contract, the Bank will have the obligation to deliver 10 565 240 USD against 9 987 937 EUR (10565240/1.0578) at maturity.

 Shortcomings:

Unlike option contracts, forward contracts does not allow to benefit from favourable fluctuations since the Banker and the Exporter have the obligation to deliver a specific amount of foreign currency at a specific exchange rate and at a specific date.

As a result forward contracts are usually cheaper than Options, which means that, depending on circumstances, a trade off between flexibility and price will have to be made.

Please click on the links below for more hedging techniques