This is in a series of articles on economic indicators in forex trading. This one in particular is about monetary policy and how it affects foreign currencies. This is an important one in particular right now for forex trading strategies because of the Federal Reserve Bank’s monetary policy.
Monetary policy has to do with the money supply that an economy has in it’s system. It also has to do with interest rates and the cost of borrowing. These are the ways that central banks like the Fed execute monetary policy.
This is different that fiscal policy where the government tries to affect the economy through government spending and tax policies. Monetary policy and central bank announcements and moves are one of the most important forex indicators out there.
The Fed came out a couple of weeks ago and said that they would continue to keep the cost of borrowing low. They even said that they would do more quantitative easing in order to make that happen. That basically means that they are going to print money and pump it into the money supply system.
This in effect causes the USD to decline in value. If you inject money into the economy, you are making money cheap and easy. Just like in anything else, this makes the value of the US dollar go down.
Also, it has the affect of other central banks and other countries counteracting their action. For example, right now the Japanese Central Bank announced they would do the same thing and pump money into their economy. They have been doing this for years and they are continuing on this path.
Even a hint in their announcements make the forex market move dramatically. You have to understand Fed-speak and know how to read between the lines. If you can do that, it will help you predict moves in the currency market for your trading activities.