Exchange rate news - this week

This week's Budget will be making the headlines in the business press - Wednesday lunch time is when the details are unveiled in the Commons...

Normally, a Budget doesn't tend to affect the value of the Pound too much, but this year could be an exception. If Chancellor Darling can give a positive outlook for the UK economy, some confidence might flow through to markets which could give the Pound a boost.

However if there are indications of a longer recession, along with tax hikes or spending cuts, sterling may fall back again after its encouraging run over the last 10 days.

More importantly, we have data releases on Tuesday which are more likely to move exchange rates around this week. In the UK, CPI and RPI inflation data are out at 9.30am.

Typically, higher than expected inflation figures will give the Pound some value, however in recent months it has been the worry of deflation and falling prices which has been dogging sterling, so if you have any foreign currency transfers to do in the coming weeks, Tuesday morning is key.

The Bank of Canada also meets on Tuesday to decide on Canadian interest rates - sending money to Canada has become relatively expensive recently due to the poor exchange rate, so look for any weak sentiment on Tuesday at 2pm to weaken the CAD. Canadian Retail Sales data is then announced on Thursday.

On Wednesday, as well as the budget, we have another set of UK figures, including the minutes from the Bank of England's last meeting earlier this month, and unemployment figures too. GDP and Retail Sales for the UK are released on Friday.

A busy week for the Pound. Don't forget that using your bank to send money abroad is usually not the cheapest way to do it - using a UK based currency company can save you up to four per cent on the exchange rate, and with your own dedicated broker to help you through the process, some of the headache will be removed too.