Devaluation and Depreciation Definition

I read in a text book that under a floating exchange rate a “devaluation” is not possible as a means of improving international competitiveness but a “depreciation” is. Could you please explain to me what a depreciation is as opposed to a devaluation.

Interesting question.

In general terminology devaluation and depreciation are often used interchangeably. In fact for A Level economics it is not essential to distinguish between the two (but, of course it is nice)

Definition of Devaluation:

A devaluation is when a country makes a conscious decision to lower its exchange rate in a fixed or semi fixed exchange rate. Therefore, techically a devaluation is only possible if a country is a member of some fixed exchange rate policy.

• For example in the late 1980s, the UK joined the Exchange Rate Mechanism ERM. Initially the value of the Pound was set between say 3DM and 3.2DM. However, if the government thought that was too high, they could make the decision to devalue and change the target exchange rate to 2.7DM and 2.9DM.

Definition of depreciation: When there is a fall in the value of a currency in a floating exchange rate. This is not due to a government’s decision but due to supply and demand side factors. Although if the government sold alot of Pounds they could help the depreciation.

For example, the dollar has depreciated in value against the Euro during the last 12 months. This is due to market forces, there is no fixed exchange rate target for Euro to Dollar.

The problem is that in everday use, people take about a devaluation in the dollar, when actually they technically speaking mean a depreciation in the dollar.

Hope this helps