Economists warn dollar likely to stay low

The Australian dollar has staged a sharp fall as the bleak news on the economic front continues...

A Currency Strategist at Westpac, Jonathan Cavenagh, says the dollar will remain under pressure as long as the global economy is slowing.

"A lot of investors have come back from their Christmas holidays and we're still seeing the world economy in a pretty bad shape," he said.

"The data has generally been disappointing from most parts of the world, including the US and the European Union, and even in Australia we had a very bad building approvals number last week."

But the Australian dollar has jumped sharply against the Kiwi after New Zealand's foreign currency rating was downgraded by Standard and Poor's.

Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation