hard currency
(redirected from Hard currencies)Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus.
Related to Hard currencies: Soft currency
Hard currency
A freely convertible currency that is not expected to depreciate in value in the foreseeable future.
Copyright © 2012, Campbell R. Harvey. All Rights Reserved.
Hard Currency
A currency that is issued by a politically and economically stable country and is therefore well-respected in FX trade. Large, international transactions are often settled in one hard currency or other. The market to buy and sell hard currencies is especially liquid, even by the standards of foreign exchange trading. The price of a hard currency often remains stable in the short-term. Examples of hard currencies include the U.S. dollar, the British pound, the euro, and the Japanese yen.
Farlex Financial Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All Rights Reserved
hard currency
a FOREIGN CURRENCY that is in strong demand, but in short supply on the FOREIGN EXCHANGE MARKET. This usually arises when a country is in persistent balance of payments surplus. Compare SOFT CURRENCY.Collins Dictionary of Business, 3rd ed. © 2002, 2005 C Pass, B Lowes, A Pendleton, L Chadwick, D O’Reilly and M Afferson
hard currency
a FOREIGN CURRENCY that is in strong demand but in short supply on the FOREIGN EXCHANGE MARKET.Hard-currency status is usually associated with an economically strong country that is running a large surplus on its balance of payments; demand for the currency is high to finance purchases of its exports, but the supply of the currency is relatively limited because the amount of it being made available through the purchase of imports is much lower. Under a FLOATING EXCHANGE-RATE SYSTEM, however, the demand for, and supply of, the currency should be, in theory, brought into balance by an APPRECIATION of its EXCHANGE-RATE value. Compare SOFT CURRENCY.
Collins Dictionary of Economics, 4th ed. © C. Pass, B. Lowes, L. Davies 2005