# bank interest rates



## deb49 (Jul 14, 2009)

Can anyone give me some advice. We will be moving over to cyprus in about 3 weeks. Obviously the exchange rate from sterling to euros is currently dire. The interest rates in the UK are a waste of time. We don't know whether we would be better to leave our money in the Uk hoping that the exchange rate will improve or bank it in cyprus if the interest rates are better. I am asking as a neighbour of ours has a property in turkey and is getting 15% interest on savings over there! 
Any advice welcome!
Deb


----------



## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

deb49 said:


> Can anyone give me some advice. We will be moving over to cyprus in about 3 weeks. Obviously the exchange rate from sterling to euros is currently dire. The interest rates in the UK are a waste of time. We don't know whether we would be better to leave our money in the Uk hoping that the exchange rate will improve or bank it in cyprus if the interest rates are better. I am asking as a neighbour of ours has a property in turkey and is getting 15% interest on savings over there!
> Any advice welcome!
> Deb


Inerest rates in Cyprus are very low and the predictions are that by the autumn sterling will be back up against the euro.
I would recommend though that you talk to someone in the financial field to get some expert advice.
The exchange companies such as currencies direct, HIFIX, FCUK, and others will save you money if you use them to move your sterling and can also advise whether you should wait for a few months or do it now.
When we came over we used two companies to get quotes from and played them off agaisnt each to get the best deal. It saved us thousands


----------



## deb49 (Jul 14, 2009)

Thanks Veronica,
Great advice, I usually use Sterling Exchange to change my money, but I'll try another company as well.


----------



## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

deb49 said:


> Thanks Veronica,
> Great advice, I usually use Sterling Exchange to change my money, but I'll try another company as well.


Actually it was sterling exchange we used in the end when we bought the money over for our house.


----------



## dalyan diva (Aug 1, 2009)

Hi Deb49,
The bank base rate in Turkey as of 16th July is 8.75% Depending on how much you have to invest, the banks here will give you between 10 and 12.25% less 15% tax. At the beggining of the year the best rate was 18% it has been coming down every month since then, and is expected to be at 6% by the end of the year.
It may seem like a good place to invest but you must take in to account that the exchange rate changes 2 times a day, so if you are thinking of taking advantage of the high interest rates here and exchange them back to sterling or euro you can also lose a lot by doing this. An example last week the rates were at 2.37lt to the £. Today they are at 2.45tl. If you had invested 100k you would see a loss of 8K in a week.
Regards Dalyan Diva


----------

