Sunday 10 October 2010

Dollar

The Australian dollar has almost reached parity with the Greenback. This week it broke a 27 year old record - established in the year the dollar was floated. It touched (briefly) US 99.7c.

This past fortnight I travelled with it at A$1 = 6.5 yuan and S$1.30 making overseas travel the most inviting proposition for many Australians in decades. In Shanghai I bought at the corner shop across from our hotel two Magnum ice creams, a 1.5L bottle of water, 600mL bottle of orange juice and a small box of tissues for 19.80 yuan - that's about A$3.20. For me, shopping in Shanghai was like I remembered Singapore 33 years ago.

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