This is the current exchange for the US Dollar against the Samoan Tala. The rate has been on a downward spiral since we arrived in the country in October of last year, as you can see by the table below.

This sucks because as Peace Corps Volunteers, we get paid in the local currency, Samoan Tala. For day to day to purposes, the exchange rate doesn't matter, but if we ever travel or when we convert our cash back to US Dollars at the end of service, it's really lousy to have such a weak Dollar.

You can see an historical table of exhange rates for the last 7 months and read a story from Reuters about how thrilled U.S. officials are with the weak dollar because it helps imports by clicking through the MORE link.

U.S. officials happy with dollar fall, report says

Reuters, 05.13.03, 7:29 PM ET

NEW YORK, May 13 (Reuters) - Officials at the U.S. Treasury Department are happy to see the dollar's gradual decline, but hope to keep markets guessing about its policy so as to prevent a disruptive plunge, macro-political advisory group Medley Global Advisors said.

The Medley report, seen by market sources on Tuesday, said U.S. officials plan to counter any complaints at a G7 meeting this weekend with calls for Europe to cut interest rates and for Japan to undertake structural reform.

"This is the U.S. retort at the G7 meeting. If the Europeans complain about the weak dollar, all the Treasury has to do is tell them to cut interest rates," said a trader at a large European bank in New York who had seen the report.

The Treasury believes that if Europe wants to stop the euro's export-choking appreciation against the dollar, a deep cut in euro zone interest rates will go a long way toward accomplishing that goal, the report said.

The dollar sank to four-year lows against the euro on Monday after Treasury Secretary John Snow said a falling dollar helps exports, comments widely viewed as acceptance of a weaker currency.

European and Japanese officials are not worried about current exchange rate levels but fear the U.S. administration's new tone has made it difficult to convince markets the U.S. favors anything but a gradually weakening currency, the report said.

The dollar recovered a little on Tuesday after Snow said a sound currency is key to a sound economy. But Snow also said this week that currencies should reflect economic forces and not be held artificially high or low by intervention.

Market players say Japan has secretly intervened in markets lately in an effort to counter the dollar's fall, which hurts its exports, a key source of economic growth for an economy struggling with deflation and a decade-long slump.

On Tuesday, traders said monetary authorities bought dollars for yen during the Asian and London trading sessions. But the Bank of Japan and the Ministry of Finance refused to confirm such transactions.

In data released last week, Japan said it spent 2.38 trillion yen ($20.44 billion) on currency intervention during the first quarter.

Even European officials are starting to worry about the dollar's impact on the competitiveness of European exports as its economy also suffers. The dollar is down 9 percent against the euro this year and it has shed about 20 percent in the past 12 months.

Copyright 2003, Reuters News Service