A German ship owning company claimed in contract arising from a contract for the construction of two ships in Malta. The currency of account specified by the contract was Maltese Pounds. The court awarded interest on the judgment, although in Maltese Pounds, based on the German commercial borrowing rate at the relevant time. The exceptional feature which guided the court to produce this result was that Maltese Pounds being a ‘soft’ currency it was not possible to borrow that currency in Germany. Interest on a judgment is awarded in order to compensate the judgment creditor for the cost of borrowing the amount of the judgment in his home country between the date of breach and judgment.
Citations:
[1977] 2 Lloyds Rep 5
Cited by:
Cited – Barings Plc (In Liquidation) and Another, Barings Futures (Singapore) Pte Ltd (In Liquidation) v Coopers and Lybrand (A Firm) and Others, Mattar and 36 Others ChD 17-Oct-2003
BFS was a company incorporated in Singapore which conducted its internal affairs in Singapore Dollars. It was by statute required to render its accounts in that currency. It paid its staff in Singapore Dollars. It sought damages in Singapore . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Damages
Updated: 29 April 2022; Ref: scu.186850