subject: Currency Exchange: Floating Rate Vs. Fixed Rate [print this page] Did you know that the foreign exchange market (also known as FX or forex) is the largest market in the world? In fact, more than $3 trillion is traded in the currency markets on a daily basis as of 2009. This article is certainly not a primer for currency trading, but it will help you understand exchange rates and why some fluctuate while others do not.
What Is an Exchange Rate?
An exchange rate is the rate at which one currency can be exchanged for another. In other words, it is the value of another country's currency compared to that of your own. If you are traveling to another country, you need to "buy" the local currency. Just like the price of any asset, the exchange rate is the price at which you can buy that currency. If you are traveling to Egypt, for example, and the exchange rate for U.S. dollars 1:5.5 Egyptian pounds, this means that for every U.S. dollar, you can buy five and a half Egyptian pounds. Theoretically, identical assets should sell at the same price in different countries, because the exchange rate must maintain the inherent value of one currency against the other.
Fixed Exchange Rates
There are two ways the price of a currency can be determined against another. A fixed, or pegged, rate is a rate the government (central bank) sets and maintains as the official exchange rate. A set price will be determined against a major world currency (usually the U.S. dollar, but also other major currencies such as the euro, the yen or a basket of currencies). In order to maintain the local exchange rate, the central bank buys and sells its own currency on the foreign exchange market in return for the currency to which it is pegged
