levo

Government Policies

The exchange rate as a policy instrument, and the limits of policy

  • 3 things to know
  • Unit A2 2

Overview

What an exchange rate is, what depreciation and appreciation each do to export and import prices, and how the trade balance responds.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

What is an exchange rate, and what do a depreciation and then an appreciation do to the price of exports and of imports?

Key term

Define the exchange rate.

Key term

What happens to the relative prices of exports and imports when a currency depreciates?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Define the exchange rate.

    Model answer

    The price of one currency expressed in terms of another currency.

  2. 2

    What happens to the relative prices of exports and imports when a currency depreciates?

    Model answer

    Exports become cheaper in foreign currency terms and imports become more expensive in the home currency.

  3. 3

    What happens to the price of a country's exports when its exchange rate appreciates?

    Model answer

    Exports become more expensive for foreign buyers because more foreign currency is needed to purchase the same amount of domestic currency.

  4. 4

    How does an appreciation of the exchange rate affect the cost of imports?

    Model answer

    Imports become cheaper in domestic currency terms because less domestic currency is needed to buy foreign goods.

  5. 5

    Explain the mechanism by which exchange rate appreciation affects export competitiveness.

    Model answer

    When the domestic currency appreciates, foreign buyers must exchange more of their currency to obtain the same amount of domestic currency, raising the effective price of exports and reducing their competitiveness in international markets.

  6. 6

    If a country's currency appreciates significantly, what would likely happen to its trade balance in the short term?

    Model answer

    The trade balance would likely worsen as exports become more expensive (reducing export demand) while imports become cheaper (increasing import demand).

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

1Closed book
2Open book
3Closed book

The 3-step method, run for you

Answer cold, learn it, then prove it stuck. Levo tracks the jump between your first attempt and your last.

Enterprise and Entrepreneurship
The Central Purpose of Business Activity
Forms of Business Ownership
Stakeholder Groups

Cram a whole paper in one sitting

Sort every topic into what you know and what you do not, then drill only the weak ones.

A ratio.
profitabilityliquiditygearing

Blank Blitz makes facts automatic

Rapid timed gap-fills on the terms and numbers you need to recall without thinking.

AMarket growth = ((1950 − 1450) ÷ 1450) × 100 = 34.5 %.
BSales volume is the total quantity of units sold in a market.
CSales value is the total revenue generated from sales in a market.

Build It gets the exam shape right

Assemble a full-mark answer from its marking points, in the order an examiner wants them.

A salary is a fixed annual amount.
TrueFalse

Test It catches misconceptions

Spot the fault in a statement. The traps are the mistakes students actually make.

721941163128510

Brain Breaks between sessions

Short focus games to reset attention, so the next set lands better than the last.

Every question in Government Policies, on a schedule.

Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.

Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.