Euro breakup contingency plans

I.S.T.

Hey guys,

As you are probably aware, there is a lot of talk about a Euro currency breakup at the moment. Rumours are rife that the Central Bank are printing punts, or have commissioned foreign banks to print punts, although this has been denied by the central bank.

In light of this I was wondering what contingency plans, if any, your business has in place if the Euro currency is no more. I am not an expert but from what I read there would be a massive devaluation if we switch back to punts. If your business has a lot of cash in an Irish bank this could be disasterous.

So what are the best things Irish businesses can do to protect themselves? Convert their cash into Sterling? Store their cash in an offshore bank? I have started to leave more cash in our Paypal account and am not transfering it into the Irish bank account. I don't know how effective this is, in the event of a conversion back to punts what would happen to money in Paypal accounts?

Anyway, would be interested to hear your ideas and what your business is doing to protect itself.

YouBuyLocal

We'll probably go straight to Sterling.

Noticed our Bond Yields going down to 8 or 7%? Remember the Queen AND the Prime Minister were over here SIMULTANEOUSLY in an unprecedented national formal visit?

They have most likely put together a plan to take up the sterling or tie the punt (Mark II) to sterling. This means that we'll basically be paying back in Sterling, much less precarious than Portugal or Greece, who will be paying back in "Mickey-Mouse" currencies.

Thats probably why our bond yields have gone down.

Now, if you have a product that becomes competitive in Ireland as soon as our imports go up then you'll stand to gain, as long as you don't import much to produce it. Thats rare, but as it happens that is the case with Organic food, low cost-bases. The Irish Organic sector will become competitive internationally due to low input costs.

Thats just one example. Generally speaking, if you import a lot, like a car dealer, then you're screwed.

EIREHotspur

I am reminded of a line from an MC Hammer Song....."We got to pray just to make it today".

Irony is he made millions after being destitute and lost it all like Ireland.

EURO was great while it lasted but UK not joining didn't do us any favours.