foreign exchange

[fawr-in iks-cheynj, for-]

noun

1. commercial paper drawn on a person or corporation in a foreign nation. FX

2. the process of balancing accounts in commercial transactions between business organizations of different nations. FX

foreign exchange

noun

1. the system by which one currency is converted into another, enabling international transactions to take place without the physical transportation of gold

2. foreign bills and currencies

foreign exchange

1. The ways in which debts between two nations that use different currencies are paid. Foreign exchange rates can have an important effect on a nation's economy, because the value of its currency in other countries affects the cost of both imported and exported goods and services. (See balance of payments.)

Word History and Origins

Origin of foreign exchange¹

First recorded in 1685–95

Example Sentences

For one, whether Saudi Arabia can pony up $1 trillion — a figure amounting to 80% of its annual GDP and more than twice its foreign exchange reserves — is an open question.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Argentina’s Finance Minister Luis Caputo has pledged to update investors on plans to build foreign exchange reserves by early December, they said.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

When Ridge didn’t continue, Gibby sighed again and said, “So, what? Are you a foreign exchange student or something? Do you come from a country that worships dumpsters and wears national uniforms?”

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Inflation skyrocketed, the country's foreign exchange reserves dropped precipitously, and its foreign debt doubled since 2016.

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With a sudden end to foreign exchange earnings, Venezuelan GDP went into the kind of free fall you rarely see outside war, setting off a humanitarian crisis that brought millions to the brink of starvation.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• convertibility www.thesaurus.com