When I came to Croatia in 2003, I got a bit more than ten kuna per British pound. The kuna goes up and down with the euro, to which it is tied pretty closely. As my main pension is in pounds, this exchange rate matters. At the end of 2008, the pound dropped to a bit more than eight kuna. All of a sudden, I was some twenty percent the poorer than before. Early in 2012, the Croatian government introduced the foreign pension tax, which made me another twenty percent the poorer. But the pound has been improving lately by comparison with the euro. Although this jacks up my tax obligations, as well, it also makes me richer. Today’s exchange rate is nine and a half kuna per pound, and I am one of the richest pensioners in Croatia in spite of the tax. The way things are going, the pound might well get to where it was a decade ago or so. Hooray! The buoyant exchange rate cannot but prod me in my national sentiments. Yes, I am feeling British today.

Addendum (April 13, 2017)

Well, well. The British pound has not been doing very well ever since Brexit last summer. As of late, the exchange rate is about a Croatian kuna below where it was when this piece was written. That is, it is around eight and a half kuna per pound. Although I am not as rich as I used to be before the fateful referendum, when the pound was above ten kuna per pound one more time, I still feel kind of chipper about my financial prospects. Given all the givens, Britain is likely to do well in the foreseeable future. The growing uncertainty around the globe cannot but make it a place to covet. Detached from the European subcontinent, the blessed isles strike many like a place to be. A safe haven, no less. Apparently, this is jacking up the value of the pound at this very moment in spite of all the unknowns that Brexit still entails, and will entail for a few more years. In short, feeling British has a bright future, I reckon. Fingers crossed, as ever.