The exchange rate to be used for the 2011 Single Farm Payment Scheme is 1 euro = 0.8665 pounds, the Scottish Government has confirmed.
Date:
Mon, 03 Oct 2011
Source:
Scottish Government
Scottish Government:
Website
The exchange rate to be used is that set last Friday by the European Central Bank and has risen when compared with last year.
Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead said: "Farmers will be glad to see that, despite the recent turbulence in financial markets, the 2011 exchange rate for single farm payments has settled at around last year's level and so provides some welcome stability to help with their financial planning."
All payments for direct aid schemes such as the Single Farm Payment and Scottish Beef Calf Schemes are set in euros. The conditions on how to convert these amounts into the national currencies of Member States that do not use the euro are set in EC Regulations.
The regulations allow the European Commission to set in advance the date on which the exchange rate is calculated. For the 2011 scheme year, the rate for all direct payments is calculated on the last working day of September.
The rate used in 2010 was 0.85995 pounds: the 2011 rate, therefore, represents an increase of + 0.8 per cent.
More news for Scottish farmers.