Strong Can. Dollar Strains Parents of Overseas Students Time to End Our Dollar Dependence Strong Australian Dollar Benefits, Hurts Korea

The Aussie's rally comes on the back of soaring prices of raw materials, exports of which account for 17 percent of the Australian economy. Tony Morriss, a currency strategist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group, said, "With a weak U.S. dollar and higher commodities, the Aussie will outperform. The currency may climb to 96.50 this week."

The Australian dollar has also been climbing against the won -- nearly to the W1,000 mark. According to the Bank of Korea, the Aussie traded at W761.78 on May 18 last year, but on Monday it traded at W995.56, up 30.7 percent year-on-year.

The value of the currency of Canada, which is exporting great quantities of crude oil and other raw materials, has also been rising. According to a survey by the BOK, the long-standing axiom of the Canadian dollar being cheaper than the U.S. dollar came to an end in October. On Monday, the Canadian dollar traded at 99 U.S. cents, nearly at parity.

In the early 2000s, one U.S. dollar was worth 1.40 Canadian. The greenback had trumped the Canadian dollar for more than a century, since the American Civil War in 1864.

Park Hee-chan, an economist at Mirae Asset Securities, said, "As the prices of raw materials will likely continue to rise, so too will the Australian and Canadian dollars. It's hard to tell when their rise might be curbed."

In contrast to Australia and Canada, the economy of New Zealand, which has enjoyed an 11-year-long spell of prosperity thanks to booming sales of dairy products and raw materials, is showing signs of slowing down. Bloomberg reported that investors BlackRock and DWS Investment have been selling the New Zealand dollar on fears of a recession, with concerns rising about a growing asset bubble in the wake of the long boom. Financial institutions are advising investors to sell the New Zealand dollar and buy the Aussie.

(englishnews@chosun.com )