A floating exchange rate or fluctuating exchange rate is a type of exchange-rate regime in which a currency's value is allowed to fluctuate according to the foreign-exchange market. A currency that uses a floating exchange rate is known as a floating currency. A floating currency is contrasted with a fixed currency.
In the modern world, most of the world's currencies are floating; such currencies include the most widely traded currencies: the United States dollar, the euro, the Norwegian krone, the Japanese yen, the British pound, and the Australian dollar. The Swiss franc was formerly traded via a floating exchange rate but as of September 2011, has its floor pegged to the euro.
However, central banks often participate in the markets to attempt to influence the value of floating exchange rates. The Canadian dollar most closely resembles a "pure" floating currency, because the Canadian central bank has not interfered with its price since it officially stopped doing so in 1998. The US dollar runs a close second, with very little change in its foreign reserves; in contrast, Japan and the UK intervene to a greater extent.
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