Increased currency trading seen after US-Iraq war

An upsurge in global economic activity after the end of the US-led war against Iraq is seen, resulting in more intensified capital movement around the world.

Noted currency market analyst Fitzgerald Aclan made this observation after noting that the war in Iraq is fast reaching its conclusion.

Citing figures from the Performance Foreign Exchange Corp. (PFEC), the biggest Internet foreign exchange information service provider in the Philippines, Aclan said that global foreign currency trading, now estimated at $1.2 trillion daily, will become more active after the ouster of the Saddam regime from Iraq.

Jonathan Ocampo, PFEC regional general manager, said that investors in the Philippines should be more alert and up-to-date in tracking foreign currency movements in order to take full advantage of the projected worldwide economic recovery that would follow the conclusion of the war. A lowering of oil prices is expected to further spur global economic growth.

The process of globalization would be further accelerated by the victory of the US-led "coalition of the willing" over Iraq, observed Aclan, as Iraq’s oil resources, the second biggest in the world next to those of Saudi Arabia, are privatized. Under Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s oil resources were bieng managed by a state-owned company. More competition in the oil world market is expected to drive prices farther down.

Aclan said that investors should therefore watch carefully the price movements of the world’s major currencies as the Iraq war winds down to benefit from the global trading in foreign exchange, which is 75 times bigger in volume than the New York Stock exchange turnover daily. Through its Internet currency tracking system, called FX Station 2003, PFEC offers real-time information and analysis of foreign currency price changes and trends, thus guiding the investor by the second in making his decisions online.

Aclan said that investors need not rely on third-party brokers to make their decisions as they can get the latest information and market analysis from the PFEC tracker system on FX Station 2003 to be able by to make wise and judicious decisions in the currency market.

PFEC has so far traded with currencies, like the Euro, the Japanese yen, the Swiss franc, the Australian dollar and the British pound against the dollar. It also handles only spot currency trading.

Philippine construction and recruitment companies are also expected to benefit in a post-Iraq rehabilitation and reconstruction period. The Philippine government is putting together a humanitarian and reconstruction package to help in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Iraq.