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01:24 Dec 9, 2011
Spanish to English translations [PRO] Economics
Spanish term or phrase:contribuyó
El déficit de la cuenta corriente contribuyó a disminuir el ritmo de apreciación con respecto al dólar, lo que se vio reflejado en los últimos meses de 2011.
I have translated "contribuyó" as "helped" (...helped to slow the appreciation against the dollar), which implies that appreciation is a bad thing and that the slower appreciation is a good thing. But I'm not actually sure whether "contribuyó" is being used here to mean contributed positively or negatively!
Alas, I'm not an economist. :(
Could someone please help me to understand whether slowing down appreciation is positive or negative and there whether "helped to..." is correct for "contribuyó".
Explanation: I don't think 'helped' necessarily has to carry any positive connotations here. Exchange-rate appreciation can be both good and bad, depending on one's perspective and the state of the economy.
Obviously a rapid appreciation of the exchange rate is destabilising (imagine if your own tariffs all of a sudden became much more expensive for your foreign clients)
If a currency is 'overvalued', there will normally be a current-account deficit (that country's exports are expensive relative to those from other countries, and the opposite for imports), as the country will buy (import) more than it will sell (export).
A current-account deficit, which can be caused by more imports than exports (income flows also play a part in a current-account balance), should normally result in a depreciation of that country's exchange rate (when someone buys your exports they are also buying your currency, so less exports means less demand for your currency, and hence downward pressure on your currency's price, or exchange rate)
This just occurred to me:
The US dollar has depreciated against a number of emerging currencies over the past year or so under a dual effect:
1) The Federal Reserve created a huge amount of liquidity (i.e. it increased the supply of USD) through its quantitative easing program (more supply of USD relative to demand for USD = downward presure on USD);
2) A lot of these additional dollars were invested in emerging markets (increased demand for emerging currencies = upward pressure on these currencies)
So, while the appreciation of the currency in question was in all likelihood not drastically quick (this would be rather odd against the USD), it was probably seen as a problem. Over the course of 2010 and 2011, many countries (from memory incl. Brazil and a number of SE Asian countries) introduced capital controls to try to curb the massive (destabilising) influx of dollars.
I hope that helps.
A low exchange rate helps to make an economy more competitive, but it also makes imports more expensive, and sometimes these imports are essential items (eg food or oil). So, in itself, appreciation is neither good or bad - you need to look at who or what sectors of the economy it affects, and different exchange-rate policies may suit different countries at different times.
Now, drastic exchange-rate fluctuations are obviously not a good thing as they mess with prices (think contracts and forward-looking investment decisions involving other currencies).
However, judging from the small amount of text you have posted, it is not certain whether the author is making a normative statement at all, nor whether the pace of appreciation is even particularly fast.
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Answers
20 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +3
helped/contibuted
Explanation: I don't think 'helped' necessarily has to carry any positive connotations here. Exchange-rate appreciation can be both good and bad, depending on one's perspective and the state of the economy.
Obviously a rapid appreciation of the exchange rate is destabilising (imagine if your own tariffs all of a sudden became much more expensive for your foreign clients)
If a currency is 'overvalued', there will normally be a current-account deficit (that country's exports are expensive relative to those from other countries, and the opposite for imports), as the country will buy (import) more than it will sell (export).
A current-account deficit, which can be caused by more imports than exports (income flows also play a part in a current-account balance), should normally result in a depreciation of that country's exchange rate (when someone buys your exports they are also buying your currency, so less exports means less demand for your currency, and hence downward pressure on your currency's price, or exchange rate)
William A McNab New Zealand Specializes in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 8
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +3