The New Zealand dollar is informally called the ‘kiwi’ by foreign exchange traders and analysts due to the kiwi bird, which is native to New Zealand, being something of a national symbol for the country. The kiwi bird is also depicted on New Zealand’s one-dollar coin.
Although the New Zealand dollar is considered one of the eight FX ‘majors’, it is actually only the world’s eleventh most traded currency. Further to the other seven majors – the US dollar, euro, yen, pound, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar and Swiss franc – the New Zealand dollar also falls behind the Mexican peso, the Chinese yuan and the Swedish krona in its share of the foreign exchange market (around 2%). The currencies of China and Mexico are not considered majors due to their emerging market status, while the krona’s market share has only exceeded that of the New Zealand dollar fairly recently (in 2016, according to the Bank for International Settlements) and is therefore not yet considered ahead of New Zealand’s currency.
In the past two decades, the New Zealand dollar’s lowest value against the US dollar occurred in October 2000 when the NZD/USD exchange rate traded at just 0.3901. The currency’s two-decade high occurred in August 2011 when NZD/USD reached 0.8842.
Among the majors, the New Zealand dollar is considered a riskier currency, which means that its value will fall against the larger majors (especially JPY, USD, CHF, GBP and EUR) during periods of economic uncertainty or when global geopolitical risk is elevated, or during bouts of high market volatility.
NZD News, Forecasts and Trends
Growing fears of the coronavirus outbreak has moved the market into safer currencies such as the USD and away from AUD, NZD and CAD.
The threat of proxy war between the US and Iran in Iraq also pared back some of the gains the Kiwi had made coming into the New Year.
In December the New Zealand dollar has climbed back to US$0.66 it's highest value since July.
Against the Australian dollar, jumped to A$0.96 after being as low as A$0.92 in early November before starting a strong recovery upto current levels above A$0.95.
Robbing New Zealand's currency of better gains in 2019 have been reduced risk appetite spurred on by an escalation in the US-China trade standoff, and high correlations with other weak currencies, including the Australian dollar and yuan.
For more NZD currency market forecasts you can read the full article NZ Dollar Forecasts. The below interactive chart shows the USD to NZD exchange rate, trend and recent alerts for the last 90 days.
Recent USD to NZD 90-day trend
ALERTS:7-DAY▼3.9% | 60-DAY LOWS |
USD/NZD at 1.6182 was trading 1.3% belowAVG:1.6399 with LO:1.547 and HI:1.7626 (90 days). ALERTS: USD/NZD was DOWN 3.9% this 7-DAY period and also dropped to 60-DAY LOWS.
Travel, Currency and Money saving tips for Tokelau
In a world where travel has become easy and accessible to the masses, travelling to Tokelau – a territory of New Zealand – still requires a dedication that dissuades all but the most committed visitors. It takes upwards of 24 hours to reach Tokelau by boat from its nearest neighbour, Samoa, and you can forget about flying – there’s no airstrip. Once you’re there, the ship that brought you is your only means of getting between the nation’s three atolls – Fakaofo, Atafu and Nukunonu. It takes nine hours to travel between the two most distant ones (Fakaofo and Atafu). Your ship will also be your ticket home, so you’ll have to be prepared to stay for at least five days until it’s ready to leave, or wait for the next one in a week's time.
The distances around the atolls are short, so one can travel on foot within an atoll. Tourists can travel between atolls on a dinghy or traditional outrigger canoe.
What currency is used in Tokalau?
New Zealand dollar is the main currency used in Tokelau. Tokelau has no banks, no ATM's and no foreign exchange. Some islanders will accept Australian and Samoan currency. Don't expect to be able to use credit or debit cards, on Tokelau cash is king.
Travel money for Tokelau
Save money and time by Ordering your NZ Dollars online from Travelex, you get better rates and can pick
up the NZD cash locally or even on travel day at the airport.
Another popular option is to
use a Pre-paid Travel Card. Your Debit/Credit Card provider will charge you 2% from market mid-rate,
but your bank may also charge an extra 3% as an “Overseas Transaction Charge” plus “Overseas ATM” fees for withdrawing cash.
For card purchases if offered a choice of currencies always select to
Pay in NZ Dollars otherwise you may get much worst exchange rates.
When searching around for information on how to get a good exchange rate when sending money to Tokelau you need to start with finding out the latest
NZ Dollar foreign-transfer exchange rate.
Then compare your bank's exchange rates to several licensed FX providers exchange rate and fees to see how much
you can save (we make that calculation easy here).
Get a better deal for foreign transfers to Tokelau
When sending money to Tokelau it’s important to compare your bank’s rates & fees with those we have negotiated with our partner money transfer providers.
To get a better deal you should follow these 4 simple steps :
Open an account with a BER reviewed FX provider (id docs may be required)
You specify the local or NZ Dollar amount you want to transfer
Make a local currency domestic transfer for the requested amount to the provider's bank account in your country
Once your funds are received by the provider the converted NZD amount will be transfered to the recipient account you specify in Tokelau.
Use our Send to NZ Dollars calculator to compare the exchange rates of FX specialist providers rates versus your bank's standard rates you can hopefully save around 5% and maybe more -
end result is more NZ Dollars deposited into the recipient bank account and less margins and fees kept by the banks!
