Fruit and wine exports are particularly sensitive to exchange rate movements, and one of the consequences of the current financial market turmoil is that there has been a considerable amount of exchange rate volatility in international markets in general. Since the beginning of 2008, for example, the US dollar has depreciated by about 6 per cent against the euro.
This was not an implausible position, since the banks themselves were being gradually deregulated and allowed to expand their business into securities markets and other activities. Favorable capital market conditions and loosening of lending standards At the same time, banks’ profits surged and their capital positions strengthened, as shown in Chart 2.