The Exchange Rates Domain
- Allison Nederveld
- Zoe Wingate
The Exchange Rates domain provides interbank, government, secondary rate, and auction exchange rates.
The Exchange Rates domain is broken into three sections:
1. Search and Filter
You can search by various criteria including:
Data source document: name and organization
Data series: name, description, and metadata
Learn more about search functionality in FDE.
You can filter the available data series using one or more of the following criteria:
Start date and End date: Filters data series by the period dates of all data points within the series. All data series with at least one data point that has a period date inside the date range will be displayed.
Data Series status: Filters data series by active or inactive status. Inactive Data Series have been marked by a data manager as no longer receiving new data. This may be because a change in the way the data is being collected (such as a new source or change in units) warranted starting a new Data Series, or because the data is no longer being collected.
Geographic: Filters by the name of the actual market or the name of the the town or city where the market is located. This filter aggregates items into a multi-level lists (e.g., cities and markets are aggregated into countries, which are aggregated into regions). Selecting the higher-level item in the list will automatically select all the lower-level items in the list.
Note: The International category in this filter contains countries not currently monitored by FEWS NET.Exchange Rate Type: Filters by the type of exchange rate representing the point in the market system where foreign currency are traded (i.e., Government, Interbank, Secondary markets or auctions).
From Currency: Filters by the “from” currency in an exchange rate. The From Currency is the currency used as the numerator when calculating the exchange rate.
To Currency: Filters by the “to” currency in an exchange rate. The To Currency is the currency used as the denominator when calculating the exchange rate.
Searching and/or applying filters creates a savable dataset. For more information on creating and saving datasets, see Create and Save Datasets.
2. Data Selection
Once you have applied your search terms and filters, you will be presented with a list of all available data series that match your criteria. A data series is a collection of related data points from a single data source that are viewable as a single row within a table of data. They represent the change over time of a specific indicator. Data series are presented in table format where each row represents a single data series.
The Exchange Rates domain data selection table includes the following columns:
Name: Name of the data series, formatted as
{to_currency} per {from_currency}: {rate_type}: {market.full_name}.Country: Country where the exchange rate was observed.
Data source organization: The name of the organization that provided the data source document.
Data source document: The name of the document used as the primary source of information or data.
First: Period date for the first collection/reporting period in the data series.
Last: Period date for the last collection/reporting period in the data series.
Count: The number of data points in the data series.
Info: Hover over the information icon in a row to see more details including the data series ID, data source document, and data usage policy.
To visualize and export data, you will need to select one or more data series by checking the box at the beginning of the row containing that series.
In addition to selecting data series, you can interact with the data selection table in the following ways:
Selected data series can be viewed in the Selected tab.
You can clear your selections using the Clear Selection button.
By default the series are ordered alphabetically by country. You can click on the header of any column to sort by that column instead of by country.
3. Data Visualization and Export
Visualize
The Exchange Rates domain currently includes Chart and Table visualizations.
If you have selected dates in the filter section, these visualizations will only contain data points with an associated period date within the specified date range. Data points within the selected data series with a period date outside of the specified date range will not be displayed.
The Chart tab in the Exchange Rates domain displays a line graph where each data series is represented by a line of a different color. The chart plots the exchange rate (y-axis) against time (x-axis).
You can interact with the chart in the following ways:
Use the dropdown menu in the chart view to switch your y-axis between USD per Domestic Currency and Domestic Currency per USD.
Hover over a line to see more details including specific values.
Single click on a legend item to exclude it from the graph.
Move the sliders in the bar below the graph to zoom in or out, or use the zoom buttons above the graph to zoom to a specific length of time (e.g., 3 months or 5 years).
When zoomed in, drag the slider bar below the graph to change the time period you are viewing.
Click the download icon in the top right to download the chart or to view it in full screen.
Customize
Customization options within the Exchange Rates domain allows for aggregation or conversion of the data. The available parameters are:
Reporting Schedule: Provides reporting options on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual basis. The default reporting schedule is monthly.
Export
The Exchange Rates domain includes the following options:
File format: Choose from one of the available file formats. This will apply to both downloads and refreshable links.
Download: Provides a download of a static dataset. This will export only the data series that you have selected.
Copy link: Copies a refreshable link that connects directly to the FEWS NET Data Warehouse database server, allowing Excel, your browser, or another application to automatically fetch data from the server whenever the link is accessed.