KAMPUS PUNCAK ALAM, CAWANGAN SELANGOR

INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT (FIN542)

CASE STUDY (GROUP ASSIGNMENT): CURRENCY ANALYSIS DURING

PANDEMIC SITUATION

CURRENCY: BRITISH POUND STERLING (GBP)

PREPARED FOR: DR. MARYAM JAMEELAH BINTI MOHD HASHIM

SUBMISSION DATE: 11 JULY 2021

PREPARED BY:

STUDENT NAME (GROUP 5) STUDENT ID GROUP

EDRY LUQMAN AZMAN 2020483822

MOHD DANIEL BIN ZAINODIN 2020837358

MUHAMMAD SYAHIRUL SYAZWAN BIN ROZAINI 2020461678 BA242 3B

MUHAMMAD AZHAR BIN BAHRUDIN 2020659696

MUHAMMAD FITRI BIN MAZILAN 2020995213

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim

First and foremost, praises and Alhamdulillah, thanks to Allah S.W.T, the Almighty,
for His showers of blessing throughout our journey this semester as we managed to complete
our group project within the time given successfully.

We are highly indebted to our lecturer of INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL

MANAGEMENT (FIN542), DR. MARYAM JAMEELAH BINTI MOHD HASHIM,
because of her guidance, we were able to successfully finish our group project report for the
course. She guided us patiently on how to complete the report by providing us with lots of
information through online classes and supported us with her inspiring words. Hopefully, her
kindness will be rewarded with the gifts and blessings from Allah S.W.T. It was an honour to
learn this course with her guidance.

Besides, we would like to express our gratitude towards our family and friends for
their kind co-operation and encouragement which helped us in completing this report. They
are the reason why we keep on moving forward every single day. Without them, we would
not be able to go through every obstacle that we faced throughout our journey of completing
this task.

At last, our thanks and appreciation also went to our university, Universiti Teknologi
MARA (UiTM) for developing this group project, and to everyone who gave their full
commitment in helping us out during the preparation process of this report. Thank you for
encouraging each and every one of us to do our best in order to succeed together. Not to
mention, this task could not be completed without full co-operations of all of the group
members and all the supports from everyone involved.

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 TABLE OF CONTENT

CONTENT PAGE
TITLE PAGE I
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT II
TABLE OF CONTENT III
1.0 INTRODUCTION OF THE COUNTRY
1.1 History 1
1.2 Location on world map 2
1.3 Main events in the past that affected the country’s economy 3
2.0 ECONOMIC OVERVIEW
2.1 Comparative advantage 4
2.2 Imports and Exports activity 4
2.3 Principal trading partners 5
2.4 Types of foreign investments in the currency 5
2.5 Regulations on the financial operations 6
2.6 The country’s currency 6
2.7 Political risks 7
3.0 BRITISH POUND STERLING (GBP)
3.1 Overall performance and issues during the pandemic 8
3.2 Currency determination 9
3.3 Volatility & Depreciation/Appreciation for the last two years 11
3.4 Events that affected the currency performance in the year 2020 18
4.0 CONCLUSION 20
5.0 REFERENCES 21
6.0 VIDEO PRESENTATION 23
DECLARATION FORMS 24

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1.0 INTRODUCTION OF THE COUNTRY

The currency for this case study has been decided to be British Pound (GBP), also known as
British Pound Sterling, which is the official currency for United Kingdom (UK). This chapter
is about the country itself, its history, geography, and past events that affected its economic
development.

1.1 History

United Kingdom (UK) is an island country that includes the islands on Great Britain,
namely England, Wales and Scotland and the northern island of Ireland.

The history and origin of United Kingdom (UK) can be traced back in early 10th
Century. It was during the time; the allegiance of Celtic kingdoms was formed under the
ruling of King Athelstan. The kingdom further its empire through subsequent conquest over
the next centuries and thus, all kingdoms came under English dominion. The Acts of Union in
1536 and 1542 marked the union of England and Wales, a part of the Celtic kingdoms located
in the southwest of Great Britain (Simkin, 2020). A few centuries later, Scotland official
joined the union between England and Wales in 1707 and formed the United Kingdom of
Great Britain. The word “British” refers to the people of these kingdoms and it was used after
the formation of the country. The Republic of Ireland gained their independence from English
control in 1922, but nine of its counties, also known as Northern Ireland, became a part of
United Kingdom (Ward, 2002).

Throughout the history, United Kingdom (UK) has been changing the world economy
significantly especially in technology and industrial development. After World War II, the
country’s exports are mostly cultural. For example, literature, film, music and television
show. The greatest impact that the country has made to the world is the English language. A
global language that is now spoken in every part of the world and earned its place as the
leading international medium of information exchange (University of Cambridge, 2015).

United Kingdom joined the European Union (EU) in 1973 but after few decades of
negotiations, discussions and two changes of its Prime Minister, a vote to leave the EU has
been conducted in June 2016 (Taylor, 2017) The majority of British voters chose to leave and
therefore, the country exits the EU in 2020. The event was also known as “Brexit”.

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1.2 Location on world map

Source: https://ontheworldmap.com/uk/uk-location-map.html

United Kingdom is an island country located on the northwestern coast of Europe.

Geographically, it is positioned in the Northern, Eastern and Western hemispheres of the
Earth. It is located between the North Atlantic Ocean in the West, North Sea in the East,
English Channel in the South and Celtic Sea in the Southwest. With an area of 244,820
square kilometre, the country is a part of British Isles which are the combinations of Great
British and Ireland.

Source: https://geology.com/world/united-kingdom-satellite-image.shtml

As shown in the map, United Kingdom (UK) is a combination of four regions which
are England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The regions are considered individual
countries and each region comprises of number of cities, counties, council areas and districts.
The capital of the country is London, and it is located in the southeastern part of England.
London is also the largest city in the entire United Kingdom (UK), and it is the centre for
administrative, economic, financial, commercial, and cultural activities of the country.
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1.3 Main events in the past that affected the country’s economy

United Kingdom’s economy 1500-1750

Historians suggested that the Early Modern age, was a period of time that
significantly affected the foundations of Great Britain’s industrial activity in the 1800s. After
1500, the world witnesses the expansion of English economy. It began with agriculture
revolution. During the time, open fields were turned into fenced fields for farms therefore
maximized their agriculture activities. Clover and turnips were brought from Holland and
books on best farming practices were wrote by Thomas Tusser in 1557 and Gervase
Markham in 1614. English’s industry was also beginning to expand with the expansion of
mining industry due to the introduction of Atmospheric Steam Engine by Thomas Newcomen
in 1712. By 17th century, the cloth industry became a major industry with the invention of
flying shuttle (BBC, 2021).

Economic development in 19th century

Between 1750 and 1839, the Great Britain had its Agricultural and Industrial
Revolution. The developments were highly suggested with the growth of British Empire
during the time. The Industrial Revolution was also known as the period of “The Factory
Age” by some historians. It marked the growth on textile, coal, and iron production. Roads
and canals were also built around the country in the early 1800s (Britannica, 2021).

The Great Depression

In the first half of the 20th Century, precisely in 1930s, Britain’s manufacturing
industries started to decline, and the worst affected industries are coal, steel and shipbuilding
industries. During the Great Depression era in 1930s, the country’s unemployment rose to 3
million people which caused the people to rely on charities and money from the government
(Richardson, 1969). Because of that, people became desperate and therefore crime rates rose,
and it costed more money to the government and affected their economy in general.

The event of World War II

After World War II was over, the country was in a debt. Instead to funding military,
the country decided to concentrate its money on home development (BBC, 2021). The social
welfare was the one that lead to their economic recovery. As a result, the country became a

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world leader in technologies industries such as aerospace and computer. Economic theories
by its economists gave the government the means to improve their economy.

2.0 ECONOMIC OVERVIEW

2.1 Comparative advantage

One of the UK's comparative advantages over other economies is its strong position in
the services trade, which is increasing at a far higher rate than their goods trade. The United
Kingdom excels in exporting services, with a significant competitive edge in a wide range of
industries, including financial services, business and professional services, IT and
communications, design and media, and travel and tourism. These exports account for
roughly 12% of the UK's GDP, far more than any other G7 country, including Germany (8%),
the United States (4%), and Japan (3%). In terms of global influence, the UK is only second
to the United States in terms of service exports.

Britain's comparative advantage in publishing is another asset. The United Kingdom

is home to 10% of the world's academic publishers, which generate around 1.1 billion GBP in
international revenue each year. This is owing to the fact that the United Kingdom boasts
some of the greatest universities in the world, having competed with the United States for the
top spot for the past seven years. The Department of International Trade has had a strong
presence at the Annual London Book Fair, having meetings with various countries such as
China, India, Thailand, the United States, and others, and the UK publishing sector receives
roughly 57 percent of its revenue from exporting.

2.2 Imports and Exports activity

Gold ($65 billion), cars ($47.3 billion), crude petroleum ($23.3 billion), refined
petroleum ($20.9 billion), and broadcasting equipment ($16.7 billion) are the top five imports
in the UK. Germany, China, the United States, the Netherlands, and France are their top
importing nations. In 2019, the United Kingdom was the top importer of gold, platinum,
unpackaged medicines, self-propelled rail transportation, and preserved meat.

Cars ($39.4 billion), Gas Turbines ($25.6 billion), Gold ($24 billion), Crude
Petroleum ($22.6 billion), and Packaged Medicaments ($19 billion) are the top exporting

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activities in the UK. The United States, Germany, China, the Netherlands, and France are
their top exporting nations. In 2019, the United Kingdom was the leading exporter of Hard
Liquor, Brochures, Antiques, Stainless Steel Ingots, and Railroad Ties.

2.3 Principal trading partners

In 2020, the United Kingdom sent $401.9 billion worth of products throughout the
world. This figure represents a -2.3 percent dip from 2016 and a -14.2 percent loss from a
year earlier in 2019. By value, 54.1 percent of UK exports were sent to fellow European
nations, compared to 46.1 percent for European Union members. Furthermore, 21.2 percent
of the total was sold to Asian importers. The United Kingdom exported $16.5 billion worth of
products to North America. Africa (2.1%), Oceania (1.5%), and Latin America (without
Mexico but includes the Caribbean) received smaller percentages (1.3%).

According to 2020 UK exports and imports, the top 15 countries include the United
States: US$57.5 billion (14.3%), Germany: $41.1 billion (10.2%), Ireland: $27.5 billion
(6.8%), Netherlands: $24.9 billion (6.2%), France: $23.7 billion (5.9%), Switzerland: $19.4
billion (4.8%), China: $18.6 billion (4.6%), and Belgium: $13.5 billion (1.6%).

From 45% in quarter 2 (From April to June) 2019, the percentage of goods imports
from non-EU nations grew to 47.3% in quarter 2 2020. US impacts on the underlying total
trade balance were the biggest positive, mainly because service exports in the first half of
2020 amount to £39.0 billion. In the first half of 2020, China provided £13.6 billion to the
UK, more than any other nation in this time, as the underlying overall trade deficit

2.4 Types of foreign investments in the currency

Based om World Investment Report 2020 that has been published by United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) capital
flows of foreign direct investment into the United Kingdom (UK) fell for the second year
running in 2019, hitting USD 59 billion, down from USD 65 billion in 2018 and USD 101
billion in 2017. In 2019, the stock of FDI was around USD 2 trillion, up from USD 1430
billion in 2018. After the United States, China, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Singapore,

5
Germany, and Australia, the United Kingdom ranked eighth in terms of world FDI flows,
down a spot from the previous year.

Transactions were also much lower than the previous peak in 2016. A few investors
are concerned more about increasing trade expenses with Europe and the instability of the
pound sterling as a result of the Brexit negotiations. The United States, the British offshore
islands (Channel Islands and Isle of Man), the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, Japan,
and Germany were the United Kingdom's largest investment trading partners (in aspects of
FDI stocks) (Office for National Statistics (ONS), 2019). The finance sector, professionals,
scientific, and technical services, information technology, trade and repair, and logistics get
the majority of FDI.

2.5 Regulations on the financial operations

The Banking Regulation reference gives a large understanding of bank administration

and management, covering legislation, regulatory organizations, and worldwide standards'
involvement, licensing, liquidity regulations, international investment restrictions, liquidation
laws, and current changes in financial regulation. The Financial Services and Markets Act
2000 (FSMA) is the major source of regulatory law governing the administration of banking
services in the United Kingdom. When the United Kingdom current legislation is primarily
based on the FSMA and connected required to implement regulation and laws, this is also
affected by, and to some extent inventions, various European laws that set basic criteria for
the legislation of financial markets and banking services in the European Economic Area
(EEA). European regulations, in particular Regulation (EU) 575/2013 on prudential
requirements for credit institutions and investment firms, Capital Requirements Regulation
(CRR) and Directive 2013/36/EU on capital requirements, Capital Requirements Directive IV
(CRD IV), which implement Basel II, are establishing an increasing portion of the
framework.

2.6 The country’s currency

The currency for United Kingdom is British Pound Sterling (GBP). It is also an
official currency for South Sandwich Islands, South Georgia, and British Antarctic Territory
are British Overseas Territories, as are the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, which are
6
Crown Dependencies of the United Kingdom. Zimbabwe, an African country, also utilizes the
pound. The Falkland Islands pound, Gibraltar pound, Saint Helenian pound, Jersey pound
(JEP), Guernsey pound (GGP), Manx pounds, Scotland notes, and Northern Ireland notes are
all linked to the British pound.

2.7 Political risks

Political risk has a reputation for being difficult to quantify. In recent research, indices
of economic and political uncertainty have been developed that combine several sources of
primary data to provide broadly applicable and reasonably lengthy time series (Baker, 2016).
It takes a new approach, taking use of the fact that the Brexit referendum is an attractive
multivariate regression since political risk can be accurately assessed. It is because the
election was followed by a remarkably liquid betting market, in which "over £40 million was
wagered in the largest political gambling activity in British history." It generates daily
statistics of the (risk-neutral) probability of Brexit using factual data on bookmakers' odds
(Betfair and Predict).

These enable others to accomplish two factors: pinpoint exactly growth forecasts on
pound exchange rates based on the Leave/Remain decision and create a moment political risk
factor based on the daily variation of its confidence interval of the referendum result. Political
risk/uncertainty grows intuitively when the chance of a Leave win approaches 50%. Except
the exchange rate with the Japanese yen, the data show that the political risk premium is
favorably and extremely substantially linked with all of the pound currency exchange studied.
As the likelihood of a Leave victory approaches 50%, investment in the pound gets riskier,
and investors shift their investments away from the currency. As a result, they predict that the
removal of uncertainties the day after the referendum vote would result in an 8 percent
increase in the value of the pound (an uncertainty effect). The pound's apparent decline in the
following of the 7% vote may be broken down into two opposing effects: the expectations
impact and the political risk effect.

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3.0 BRITISH POUND STERLING (GBP)

3.1 Overall performance and issues during the pandemic

During the pandemic, which started from December 2019 in a Chinese seafood and
poultry market in Wuhan, China (Taylor, 2021) and have since then prolonged, spreading,
and still affecting lives and economies of most countries till this day, where most of the
countries of the world caught by the Covid-19 virus and the World Health Organisation
declared the virus as a pandemic (Taylor, 2021). Countries of the world, especially those in
which their currency is the Great Britain Pound Sterling (£) such as United Kingdom,
England, Scotland, and many other countries experienced fluctuations in the exchange rate.

Throughout the pandemic, British Pound maintained the exchange rate of GBP/USD
until halfway through March 2020, where the exchange rate suffered drastic decrease due to
the pandemic and other issues including the Brexit where the United Kingdom withdrew
from the European Union and the EAEC (European Atomic Energy Community) (Islam,
2021). Other than that, the currency affected by the major factors that are monetary policy,
price inflation levels, economic growth (GDP), interest rates, balance of payments, price of
oil as United Kingdom is acknowledged by most countries of the world as a global net
exporter of products consisting of oil, and last, political uncertainties. Amid the pandemic, the
conflicts, and issues arising, British Pound steadily increase throughout the year 2020.

Going into the year 2021, British Pound is currently at a stable exchange rate of
GBP/USD after going through steady rise of exchange rate from early January till end of
February and suffered decrease till the end of March and going on an increase till May 18,
where the currency going on a decrease in exchange rate in the first day of July.

Main issues and concern arising during the pandemic for the British Pound is the
Covid-19 virus itself, which affects most societies, people around the world and not just the
United Kingdom itself, where it increases the rate of unemployment and companies getting
shutdown due to the risks of contracting the virus, and sectors such as airline and aviation
sectors, hotel, and tourism sectors, are heavily affected. Besides the pandemic being the main
factor, the conflict, and the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU (European
Union) and EAEC (European Atomic Energy Community) was one of the major issues that
arise during the pandemic that affecting the British Pound.

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3.2 Currency determination

To determine currency determination for the British Pound, we first need to

understand the broad concept of currency determination, which falls under two subcategories,
which are fixed exchange rate, and floating exchange rate. Fixed exchange rate, or pegged
exchange rate, is defined as a rate the central bank (government) sets and maintains as the
official exchange rate, while setting a price of other major currency as determinants such as
the US Dollar. For example, it is determined that the value of three units of local currency is
equivalent to US$3, the central bank must make certain that it can supply the market with
those dollars and to maintain and not depreciating the rate, the central bank must maintain a
large quantity of foreign reserves which can influence their domestic exchange rate.

Floating exchange rate, on the other hand, defined as a regime where the price of a
currency for a country or nation is set or determined by the foreign exchange market based on
the supply and demand relative to other countries. Unlike fixed exchange rate which are
restrained by the government/ central bank trade limits or controls, currencies which adapted
the floating exchange rate float freely, without restrictions or limitations from the
government/central bank.

British Pound, which adapted the latter form of determination, floating exchange rate
is not tied by the central bank/government trade limitations and is set or determined by the
foreign exchange market based on the supply and demand relative to other countries.

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 Graph shown above is the equilibrium exchange rate for British Pound to US Dollar.
If the United Kingdom and the United States both produce goods that are demanded by the
other, they will intend to trade with each other. However, British producers require payment
in their local currencies, same as American producers. Both need to make payment in their
local currency for the production costs to be paid in their local currencies, which the foreign
exchange market act as intermediate for both producers to exchange currencies so that the
trade will take place.

Increase in exports of goods would shift the demand curve for British Pound to the
right and the equilibrium exchange rate will increase to a new price. During the Originally,
the conversion is 1 British Pound for 1.50 US Dollar, but after the demand curve shifting to
the right, an increase which 1 British Pound is now 1.60 US Dollar, a 6.7% increase.

Increase in imports of goods would shift the supply curve for British Pound to the
right and the equilibrium exchange rate will decrease to a new price. Originally, the
conversion is 1 British Pound for 1.50 US Dollar, but after the supply curve shifting to the
right, an increase which 1 British Pound is now 1.40 US Dollar, a 6.7% decrease.

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 Factors in which affecting the shifting of demand and supply curve are inflation,
interest rates, speculation, economic growth/recession, etc.

3.3 Volatility & Depreciation/Appreciation for the last two years

For citizens who are living in these several countries such as United Kingdom,
England, Scotland, they will be experiencing changes in their daily life activities especially in
their financial planning when there is a depreciation or appreciation of their countries’
currency, British Pound currency which is also known as Pound Sterling (£). Currency
depreciation is the loss of value of a country's currency with respect to one or more foreign
reference currencies, typically in a floating exchange rate system in which no official
currency value is maintained. Currency appreciation in the same context is an increase in the
value of the currency. In general, when we speak about foreign exchange market which
involves currencies of two countries, volatility is an important factor of the market. Volatility
is defined as the speed or degree of change in prices in either direction. Volatility is often
measured as either the standard deviation or variance between the returns from the same
market index. Since thirty or so years ago, economists have done many research and believed
that exchange rates have been very volatile. This tells us that any kind of factors or events
will be affecting the appreciation or depreciation of the value of a currency.

There was an outbreak of a new virus which started in China in the early 2020
named Coronavirus which was later officially renounced as Covid-19 by the official World
Health Organization. It has affected the whole world in many aspects. We will now analyse
the GBP/USD exchange rates chart in order to determine how has the exchange rates change
in the past 2 years and see whether the pandemic has affected the fluctuation of the exchange
rate. In 2019 which is before the pandemic started, throughout the year, if we see it from
month to month, we can see the overview of a big fall in the pattern of the graph in 2019.
Starting from the month of March which has a day that recorded as the highest rate in 2019,
rated at 1.33 GBP/USD and it went down drastically throughout the year to the lowest rate,
1.20 GBP/USD in August. There was a lot of factors affecting the drop in the exchange rates.
Main factor affecting the drop is the political issue that relates with Brexit. Brexit is derived
from the word ‘British exit’ and it was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom also known as
UK from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community also known as
EAEC or Euratom. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said the lack of preparedness

11
among its members was “frightening”, while the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said
industry’s questions about how to prepare had “gone unanswered”. The Institute of Directors
(IoD) said guidance from government had been partial and was yet to be properly road tested.
Because of the issue, the pound sterling fell by more than 1.3% against US currency to trade
at about $1.20 in August 2019.

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 Figure 3.3.1 shows an overview of GBP/USD exchange rate graph in 2019

Figure 3.3.2 shows GBP/USD exchange rate graph on March 2019 as the rate was at the
highest, 1.33 GBP/USD

Figure 3.3.3 shows GBP/USD exchange rate graph on August 2019 as the rate was at the
lowest, 1.20 GBP/USD

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 In 2020, which was when the pandemic of the virus Covid-19 started, From the
month of January to February, British Pound was able to maintain the stability of the rates as
the highest rate was 1.31 and the lowest rate was 1.27. As soon as it went into the month of
March, British Pound was in downfall where the exchange rate suffered a drastic decrease or
drop from 1.31 GBP/USD to 1.14 GBP/USD exchange rate due to the pandemic and other
issues including the Brexit mentioned in the previous part. Besides that, the currency affected
by the major factors that are monetary policy, price inflation levels, economic growth (GDP),
interest rates, balance of payments, price of oil of United Kingdom. Despite the pandemic of
Covid-19 that has done a total damage to everyone, the conflicts, and issues arising, British
Pound steadily increases throughout the rest of the year 2020 from April to December as we
can see in the exchange rate graph of GBP/USD. British Pound managed to acquire 1.36
GBP/USD as the highest rate before they ended the year 2020.

Figure 3.3.4 shows the GBP/USD exchange rate graph for the year 2020

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Figure 3.3.5 shows the highest and the lowest rate for GBP/USD for the year 2020

15
Figure 3.3.6 is a table that shows the drastic drop in the exchange rate of GBP/USD from 9th
March of 2020 to 23rd March of 2020

Going into the year 2021, British Pound is currently at an exchange rate of 1.38
GBP/USD after going through steady rise of exchange rate from early January till end of
February and suffered decrease till the end of March and going on an increase till May 18,
where afterwards the currency drops to 1.38 GBP/USD in the first day of July. For an
overview conclusion, as for July 2021, we can see that the countries that use British Pound
are recovering from their losses throughout the covid-19 pandemic. The rates are maintained
at 1.30 and above and that shows they are doing well compared to their rates in the 2 previous
years. Since we are doing GBP/USD exchange rates analysis, United States also will affect
the fluctuation of the graph. During this pandemic, we can see that United States are suffering
more compared to countries that use British Pound. If we look at the Covid-19 statistics in
2021, United States is decreasing in the number of Covid-19 cases but gradually while United
Kingdom as the representative of a country that use British Pound, the number of Covid-19
cases is decreasing tremendously. This shows how they managed to handle the situation and
are recovering in terms of their economy thus the currency is doing great in 2021 compared
to the previous years. By looking at the Figure 3.3.10 which shows the average exchange
rates per year, we can see that even during the pandemic of Covid-19 which happened in
2020, the rate increased 0.43% from the previous year’s average exchange rate.

Figure 3.3.7 shows the GBP/USD exchange rate graph for the year 2021

16
Figure 3.3.8 shows the Covid-19 cases in United Kingdom

Figure 3.3.9 shows the Covid-19 cases in United States

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 Figure 3.3.10 shows the average rate per year for 1 Pound Sterling to US Dollar.

3.4 Events that affected the currency performance in the year 2020

There are several events that happened in 2020. Everyone was thinking something
great will happen in 2020 as it is the first time we have ‘2’ in the third number in our year
date. Unfortunately, many unexpectedly bad events happened in 2020 to the whole world.
Everyone is experiencing, it is still on going and no one knows when it will stop ruining the
world. The outbreak of Covid-19 is the event that has been affecting the world including the
countries that use British Pound as their currency. Although it is said that British Pound
currency is one of the world’s most powerful currency, the currency is still affected by the
very impactful Covid-19. As mentioned in the previous part, the currency made a huge drop
around the month of Covid-19 started to invade. This also shows that currency is very
volatile, and it will constantly be changing as it can be affected by any factors. Even so, as we
entered the third quarter of 2020, we can see that the exchange rate of British Pound to US
Dollar was surging up as it moved toward the end of 2020.

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 This is because the country that we are comparing with was having a much worse
situation in handling with the outbreak Covid-19. As shown in the news, there were huge
number of Covid-19 cases reported in United States tremendously just in a few days and it
was a result of a mass gathering and delayed action and instructions from the government of
United States. Less than five months after the pandemic reached the U.S, it is reported that
around 100,000 Americans had died due to COVID-19. State economic reopening and lack of
widespread mask orders resulted in a sharp rise in cases across most of the continental of
United States. The citizens’ action is also one of the biggest factors that influenced the
statistics of the Covid-19 cases. Because of the worse situation in United States and good and
quick reaction to the outbreak Covid-19 of the United Kingdom and those several countries
which use British Pound currency, the graph of exchange rate of British Pound to US Dollar
escalated.

Figure 3.4.1 shows how high is the percent of world Covid-19 deaths of United States
compared to the other countries on 15 May 2020.

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 Figure 3.4.2 shows several American anti-maskers at a rally during the peak of the cases.

4.0 CONCLUSION

In summary, the currency, British Pound Sterling (GBP) has gone through ups and
downs throughout the decades. The strength and stability of the currency is highly related to
its economic development ever since the foundation of the country, United Kingdom (UK).
The country kick started its economy with the agriculture activities and sailed all over the
globe in search for resources and trades. As a result, few centuries later, the country had its
Industrial Revolution, and its economy has grown bigger ever since. The country then
proceeded to become one of the powerhouses in the world. It had its hard time especially
during the Great Depression and conflict in World War II which has affected the country
critically. The masterminds behind the country were the key to the country’s success of
recovering from the events and regained its power in the world economy.

The country had a very strong advantage in terms of economy thanks to its power in
the services trade. United Kingdom (UK) has a strong presence in the import and export
activities in various range of industries. Due to this, the country’s assets are growing bigger
year after year, and it shows no sign of drastic decline. In order to earn its status as one of the
most powerful forces in the world, the country ensures to keep its relationships with its
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important trading partners intact. Major trades are also made among the other powerful
countries, in order that the country gets the most out of the world trades.

The currency, British Pound Sterling (GBP) which is one of the focus points in this
case study, has shown us that it is a currency that will forever maintains its strong value as
long as the country keeps its strong presence in the world economy. As stated in the previous
section, there are many factors that can high affect the currency’s exchange rate as the
currency itself is very volatile.

As per the current global issue, the COVID-19 pandemic, the currency had its drastic
decline during the beginning of the crisis (early 2020), but soon recovered within few months
despite the fact that most countries were still struggling at the time. Fast forward to a year
later, the currency’s exchange rate was still recovering and keeps increasing.

Overall, the pandemic had a huge effect on its value at an early stage, but the
country’s economic activities has been the major driven factor that keeps its strong value in
terms of exchange rate.

5.0 REFERENCES

BBC. (2021). History: The UK economy through time. Retrieved from BBC Online:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zvx39j6/revision/6

Britannica. (21 May, 2021). Encyclopedia Britannica: Industrial Revolution. Retrieved from
Britannica web site: https://www.britannica.com/event/Industrial-Revolution

Richardson, H. W. (1969). The Great Depression. Journal of Contemporary History, Volume

4, No. 4, 3-19.

Simkin, J. (January, 2020). British History: The Tudors: Act of Union (1536 - 1543).
Retrieved from Spartacus Educational: https://spartacus-
educational.com/TUDactunion.htm

Taylor, G. (2017). Understanding Brexit: Why Britain Voted to Leave the European Union.
England: Emerald Publishing Limited.

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University of Cambridge. (October, 2015). Research Impact: What is the value of languages
to the UK? Retrieved from Cambridge Public Policy SRI:
https://www.publicpolicy.cam.ac.uk/research-impact/value-of-languages

Ward, P. (2002). The Four Nations: A History of the United Kingdom by Frank Welsh.
Canadian Journal of History, Volume 39, Issue 3, 650-652.

England, B. (2021). Retrieved 4 July 2021, from https://www.poundsterlinglive.com/bank-of-

england-spot/historical-spot-exchange-rates/gbp/GBP-to-USD-2020

Islam, F., 2021. Coronavirus: Pound plunges to its lowest level in over 30 years. [online]
BBC News. Available at: <https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51921922>
[Accessed 5 July 2021].

Blackwell Global. (2021). What Factors Impact the British Pound?. Retrieved 4 July 2021,
from https://blackwellglobal.com/factors-impact-british-pound/

The UK at a Crossroads: Framing the Economic Challenge. (2021). Retrieved 4 July 2021,
from https://institute.global/policy/uk-crossroads-framing-economic-challenge

Taylor, D., 2021. A Timeline of the Coronavirus Pandemic. [online] Nytimes.com. Available
at: <https://www.nytimes.com/article/coronavirus-timeline.html> [Accessed 5 July 2021].

Investopedia. 2021. Floating Rate vs. Fixed Rate: What's the Difference? [online] Available
at: <https://www.investopedia.com/trading/floating-rate-vs-fixed-rate/> [Accessed 5
July 2021].

Economics Online | Economics Online. 2021. Foreign exchange markets | Forex | Economics
Online | Economics Online. [online] Available at:
<https://www.economicsonline.co.uk/Competitive_markets/The_foreign_exchange_m
arket.html> [Accessed 5 July 2021].

Pettinger, T., 2021. Factors which influence the exchange rate - Economics Help. [online]
Economics Help. Available at:
<https://www.economicshelp.org/macroeconomics/exchangerate/factors-influencing/>
[Accessed 5 July 2021].

Kantox. 2021. Floating exchange rate - Kantox. [online] Available at:

<https://www.kantox.com/en/glossary/floating-exchange-rate/> [Accessed 5 July
2021].
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6.0 VIDEO PRESENTATION

Video Presentation Link (YouTube):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtWiL7Wvfeo

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Screenshot of the uploaded video presentation on YouTube platform

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