Finance notes you need to know

Consumer spending::Spending by ordinary people.

Infrastructure::The important physical systems of a nation - for example, transport, communication, water and sewage, and power.

Non-essential spending::Spending on items that we want, but which are not essential to surviving. Examples would include holidays and luxury items such as an iPad.

Unexpected spending::When a need to spend arises that was not expected; not emergencies, but times when there is a need to buy or pay for something that wasn't planned for in advance.

Bank rate ::(or base rate) The interest rate s icy committee (MPC) for the Bank of England to lend to UK banks.

Central bank::The institution responsible for managing a country's currency, interest rates and the supply of money in circulation.

Consumer Prices Index (CPI)::The official government measure of UK inflation.

Currency:: money used in each country. For the UK try. For example, currency is the pound and the US currency is the US dollar.

Currency falls (or weakens):: The currency will buy less of another currency than before.

currency rises (or strengthens):: The currency will buy more of another currency than before. Deflation:: Prices fall over time. Exchange rate: The amount of one currency needed to buy another currency or to pay for something in another currency

Fixed rate:: The provider fixes the interest rate at the start, either for the whole term of a loan or for an agreed period.

Foreign exchange market:: A global system for central banks, banks, large financial organisations and large investors to exchange currencies.

Inflation:: general increases in the price of goods and services over time.

Interbank exchange rate:: The rate at which banks will exchange currencies with each other

Monetary policy committee (MPC):: Part of the Bank of England that is responsible for controlling UK inflation and setting interest rates.

Real rate of return:: The savings interest rate minus inflation.

Tourist exchange rate:: The rate offered to people wishing to exchange currency at a bank or bureau de change. It will be lower than the inter bank exchange rate