DHL 2010 Annual Report Download - page 43

Euro trends down
 e leading central banks maintained their very expansive monetary policy in .
 e  Federal Reserve retained its key interest rate at   to . .  e Fed also decided
in the autumn to buy   billion in government bonds.  e European Central Bank
kept its key interest rate at  . In May the bank also began for the  rst time to purchase
government bonds from debt-ridden European Union member states.
 e trend in the euro/ dollar exchange rate was shaped by national debt in Europe
and economic forecasts in the United States.  e euro traded at around  . at the
beginning of  but fell to just under  . at the height of the debt crisis in Greece.
Fears of a downturn in the United States temporarily returned the euro to just over
 ., before it came under pressure again. By the end of the year, the euro was at
around  ., a year-on-year loss of . . Measured against pound sterling, the euro
posted a .  loss.
Little change in corporate bonds
 e yield on the German -year federal government bonds fell to a low of .  by
the end of the summer before making noticeable gains again due to increasing  returns,
ending the year at .  (previous year: . ).  e return on -year  govern ment
bonds decreased by . percentage points to .  in . Corporate bonds were
a ected by this tense environment  anked by economic recovery and national debt
crisis.  e risk premiums saw little change over the course of the year .
International trade up sharply
 e global economic upswing had a positive impact on international trade in the
reporting year. Global trade volumes, for instance, were up roughly  .  e upwards
trend was seen particularly in exports coming out of Europe, Latin America and North
America.  e Asia Paci c region, which su ered much less from the crisis, further
solidi ed its position as the global trade leader.
. Trade volumes: compound annual growth rate  – 

Africa Asia Pacifi c Europe Latin America Middle East North AmericaExports
Africa 4.5 13.1 5.0 9.7 4.5 9.1
Asia Pacifi c 7.9 11.5 7.2 9.5 6.9 9.9
Europe 6.9 12.8 8.2 10.2 9.5 5.6
Latin America 8.7 19.6 11.2 5.5 17.8 1.0
Middle East 5.1 7.5 1.2 6.3 0.0 1.3
North America 4.8 11.1 15.4 11.5 6.6 7.9
Source: Copyright © Global Insight (Deutschland) GmbH, . All rights reserved, as at  December .
Imports
Deutsche Post DHL Annual Report 
Group Management Report
Business and Environment
Economic parameters
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