The likelihood of the Australian dollar achieving parity with the US dollar is increasing as it punched up to a 24-year high of US95.7 cents yesterday. Economists at the Commonwealth Bank have joined other major banks in predicting that parity will probably be achieved. The bank's chief currency strategist, Richard Grace, said that their forecasts had been revised due to strong local economic conditions and the size of the federal government's budget surplus. "We had rated it as a 45 per cent chance, but we think it is a lot closer than that as it is now less than 5 per cent away from parity," he said. The high dollar is absorbing some of the impact at the pump of rising oil prices and travellers heading overseas are seeing their money go further.
