For example, travel destinations where Australian tourists are heading to (apart from Indonesia, specifically Bali) where their currency shows higher purchasing power are: NZ, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand or Turkey to list a few examples.
I mean, it always has a LOWER exchange rate when compared to stronger currencies such as the Pound Sterling, Euro or US Dollars since the rate via AUD is crap in comparison when taking into account of PPP abroad:
| Country (Currency) | GBP (£) | EUR (€) | USD ($) | AUD ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indonesia (Rp) | 22430 | 19490 | 16896 | 11722 |
| Vietnam (₫) | 34956 | 30114 | 26263 | 17990 |
| South Korea (₩) | 2000 | 1738 | 1516 | 1038 |
| Japan (¥) | 210 | 183 | 159 | 109 |
| Turkey (₺) | 58 | 51 | 44 | 30 |
| Thailand (฿) | 43 | 37 | 32 | 22 |
| Malaysia (RM) | 5.31 | 4.61 | 4.02 | 2.75 |
| New Zealand ($) | 2.30 | 2.00 | 1.74 | 1.19 |
Like WTF is going on with the AUD, why is it in the bottom? Numbers on their own don’t mean anything but the true measure is purchasing power (how many units of foreign currency you can receive in that country is determined by the exchange rate).
I mean, with a lower exchange rate you receive less foreign currency (pay more to receive the equivalent amounts from the greenback), like if 1000 USD gets you 16.8m Rupiah in Bali, you have to exchange 1500 AUD since 1000 AUD is only 11.7m Rupiah.
However, even the highest valued currencies (like those from Kuwait or Oman for instance) are worth more than the Aussie Dollar or other major currencies mentioned below just because it’s “oil” money, but the drawback is that they both aren’t common outside their region (the Middle East: Gulf) making it hard to exchange abroad.
If you break down each denomination from the Kuwaiti Dinar converting how much each one it’s worth:
| Denomination | GBP (£) | EUR (€) | USD ($) | AUD ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 KD | 49.05 | 56.45 | 64.70 | 94.50 |
| 10 KD | 24.55 | 28.20 | 32.35 | 47.25 |
| 5 KD | 12.25 | 14.10 | 16.20 | 23.60 |
| 1 KD | 2.45 | 2.80 | 3.25 | 4.75 |
| 1/2 KD | 1.25 | 1.40 | 1.60 | 2.35 |
| 1/4 KD | 0.60 | 0.70 | 0.80 | 1.20 |
If you break down each denomination from the Omani Rial converting how much each one it’s worth:
| Denomination | GBP (£) | EUR (€) | USD ($) | AUD ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RO 50 | 98.70 | 113.55 | 130.20 | 190.10 |
| RO 20 | 39.50 | 45.40 | 52.10 | 76.05 |
| RO 10 | 19.75 | 22.70 | 26.05 | 38.00 |
| RO 5 | 9.90 | 11.35 | 13.00 | 19.00 |
| RO 1 | 1.95 | 2.25 | 2.60 | 3.75 |
| RO 1/2 | 1.00 | 1.15 | 1.30 | 1.90 |
| 100 Baisa | 0.20 | 0.25 | 0.25 | 0.40 |
But, having a high value currency has it’s cons despite the value: it makes exports expensive for people who want to buy from that country and the lack of it circulating outside it’s region makes it niche within the forex market despite it being a real currency a country actually uses.
Australian dollar is weak. The government likes it like that because it’s cheaper for other countries to buy Australian goods, so more exports, and the government can say they’re doing well. Downside is it gets expensive to leave the country (which encourages travel within Australia and keeps the money on the country, that otherwise would have gone abroad).
Same deal with Canada. Low dollar is good for exports.
Canada was going to be my comparison too. The current exchange rate is about 0.96 AUD to 1 CAD.
Don’t even ask about their passport prices, it’s a joke! My Aussie friend told me they had to pay 422 AUD for an (10 year) adult PASSPORT! Like, are you serious?! An adult passport in my country is only 100€ and it’s stronger than the Australian one.
Mate, it’s so fucked. My passport expired during covid so I thought fuck it and left it. Now its $420 dollarydoos and a few weeks processing if I want to go anywhere. I’m not a big holidays guy but adding that to the cost of any trip further puts it out of reach.
It’s your government being like: “traveling is for the rich” (like an extra tax) basically making it harder for ‘peasants’ by paying more.
AUD is a risk ON currency, i.e. it thrives during periods of recovery and bullish outlooks, like post GFC, or post pandemic. When the markets are in crisis, AUD becomes weaker (so you need less of pretty much any other currency to afford 1 AUD, and conversely more AUD to buy anything else).
Right now we nose dived into risk OFF territory and even if the war stops tomorrow or even stops escalating, the AUD will take months to regain some strength.
