Revaluation

Revaluation means a change of a price of goods or products. This term is specially used as revaluation of a currency, where it means a rise of currency to the relation with a foreign currency in a fixed exchange rate. In floating exchange rate correct term would be appreciation. Altering the face value of a currency without changing its purchasing power is a redenomination, not a revaluation (this is typically accomplished by issuing a new currency with a different, usually lower, face value and a different, usually higher, exchange rate while leaving the old currency unchanged. Then the new replaces the old).

In general terms, revaluation of a currency is a calculated adjustment to a country's official exchange rate relative to a chosen baseline. The baseline can be anything from wage rates to the price of gold to a foreign currency. In a fixed exchange rate regime, only a decision by a country's government (i.e. central bank) can alter the official value of the currency. Contrast to "devaluation".

For example, suppose a government has set 10 units of its currency equal to one US dollar. To revalue, the government might change the rate to 9.9 units per dollar. This would result in that currency being slightly more expensive to people buying that currency with U.S. dollars than previously and the US dollar costing slightly less to those buying it with foreign currency.

Before the Chinese government revalued the yuan (which has occurred very slowly moving about 25% over about 9 years), it was pegged to the US dollar. It is now pegged to a basket of world currencies.

Tax revaluation is the adjustment of the tax level to slow or stop the rise in tax-revenue as the price of a taxable asset increases. This is considered a fiscally conservative measure to encourage spending. One common usage is the tax revaluation of real estate property to counter a rise in land value. This way, even as property values rise (whether due to increased demand, increased government spending, or inflation), residents and businesses still pay the same amount of money.

See also

• Devaluation
• Fixed exchange rate
• Revaluation of fixed assets