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A weak currency helps as long as the materials are not imported, which of course they are largely.
tangentially related to industry and import/exports is the fact it all needs the black stuff...and we have to buy oil & gas in dollars.
Stonehedge-
Did the government intervention cap the wholesale prices in Dollars or Sterling?
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It's all a bit up the ladder/down the ladder but we have needed to reverse the direction of the trade deficit for quite a while and part of what we're seeing now are the consequences.
Higher oil prices and a weak currency should affect imports as they will become more expensive where goods manufactured in the UK will become more competitive with imports and our exports may start to look cheaper.
For example we've been selling ships and stuff to France and Germany. The cost of the oil to deliver them is not such a big part of that deal. If you are negotiating with Rolls Royce for supply of engines and your alternative engine supplier is pricing in dollars with a contract potential lasting ten years you now might favour the Rolls Royce option.
Really we could separate the big business of import/export from the aliexpress/amazon type goods.
Another point worth bearing in mind is the treasury doesn't just sit on it's hands. They hold very large quantities of foreign currency to hedge the markets.
c00ps
Airhead
Yes, that's part of the balance that needs redressing. A weak currency helps as long as the materials are not imported, which of course they are largely.