Bi‐currency versus Single‐currency Targeting: Lessons from the Russian Experience

This paper examines how the 2005 shift in Russian exchange rate policy from US dollar (USD) single‐currency to USD–EUR (euro) bi‐currency targeting has impacted domestic interest rates. The finding show that this policy shift has disconnected Russian interest rates from US dollar‐denominated interest rates, while instead linking them to a synthetic interest rate composed of USD and EUR rates at the same proportion as that of these two currencies in the currency basket against which the ruble's exchange rate is set. The Russian experience shows that while the adoption of bi‐currency targeting may help ensure that domestic interest rates are less dependent on the monetary cycle of a single country, these rates are instead likely to reflect financial developments in all countries whose currencies are included in the currency basket. This insight is likely to be relevant for other countries that pursue basket‐targeting policies.     

Denomination composition of trade and trade balance: evidence from Turkey

The currency denominations of a country's exports and imports are not necessarily the same. If this is the case, then a change in the exchange rate parity among major currencies will affect the trade balance. The empirical evidence provided from Turkey – where exports are mostly denominated in Euros and imports are mostly denominated in USD – suggests that an appreciation of the Euro against the USD would increase the output in the long-run, appreciate the local currency and improve the trade balance for the 1985:01 2003:07 period.     

Investigating Intraday Interdependence Between Gold,Silver and Three Major Currencies: the Euro,British Pound and Japanese Yen

In this study, the interrelationship between major exchange rate returns (namely EUR/USD, GBP/USD, JPY/USD) and precious metal returns (gold and silver) is examined using a vector autoregressive model in a multivariate asymmetric GARCH framework on the intraday frequency. Our findings indicate a unidirectional volatility transmission from the majority of our currencies (EUR/USD, GBP/USD) to precious metals. The sluggish response of silver volatility to currency volatility shocks permits implementation of intraday profitable strategies, providing implications against market efficiency when analyzing intraday data. In the case of the British pound and Japanese yen, a volatility shock affects silver volatility more than gold volatility. Crisis events such as the Greek default and US credit rating downgrade reduce significantly the correlation of EUR/USD and gold/silver. The covariance between EUR/USD and silver increases after a volatility shock in EUR/USD. The same happens with JPY/USD and silver. These findings are important for portfolio managers and monetary authorities.     

贸易结算货币的新选择:稳定的篮子货币——对“金砖五国”货币合作的探讨

文章研究"金砖五国"货币合作的可能形式,构建了稳定的篮子货币作为贸易结算货币,为货币合作提供政策建议。文章首先考察了汇率之间的关系,认为一种货币的加权几何平均汇率能够消除不同货币表示币值的差异,在此基础上构建了篮子货币指数;其次研究了篮子货币波动最小的货币权重的选取,通过最优化方法获得最优权重;最后模拟计算了"金砖五国"篮子货币的权重,并探讨了如何把篮子货币最优权重转化为具体的货币篮子,同时给出了篮子货币和各国货币之间的汇率关系。     

Currency restrictions,government transaction policies and currency exchange

Summary. We study how currency restrictions and government transaction policies affect the values of fiat currencies in a two country, divisible good, search model. We show that these policies can generate equilibria where both currencies circulate as medium of exchange and where currency exchange occurs between citizens of different countries. Restrictions on the internal use of foreign currency can cause the domestic currency to be relatively more valuable to domestic agents while taxes on domestic currency create an incentive for home agents to hold foreign currency. We demonstrate that some policies increase prices and lower welfare while others do the reverse. Received: September 5, 2001; revised version: March 1, 2002     

Weights and Empirical Analysis of RMB Exchange Rate Adjustments with Reference to a Basket of Currencies Following the Exchange Rate System Reform of 2010

This paper constructs an RMB/USD exchange rate index and a basket currency exchange rate index. The correlation maximization of the RMB/USD and the basket currency index may determine the weight and quantity of the basket currency. The currency basket indicates that the weight of the USD is highest, whereas that of the GB Pound is the lowest. Our currency basket has a high linear dependence on that of the central bank. We found that the RMB/USD and currency basket indices have a long-term co-integration relationship according to the optimal currency weights. The results of the error-correcting model manifest as the RMB/USD exchange rate deviates from the long-term equilibrium level, wherein 76.3% will be corrected. This paper checks the prediction capacity, which indicates the good fit of the model. By using the Granger causality test the findings show that the People＇s Bank of China adjusts the RMB/USD exchange rate with reference to the currency basket.     

VEHICLE CURRENCY*

Historically, the world economy has been dominated by a single currency accepted in the exchange of goods and assets among countries. In recent decades, the U.S. dollar has played this role. The dollar acts as a “vehicle currency” in the sense that agents in nondollar economies will generally engage in currency trade indirectly using the U.S. dollar instead of using direct bilateral trade among their own currencies. A vehicle currency is desirable when there are transactions costs of exchange. This article constructs a dynamic general equilibrium model of a vehicle currency. We explore the nature of the efficiency gains arising from a vehicle currency and show how it depends on the total number of currencies in existence, the size of the vehicle currency economy, and the monetary policy followed by the vehicle currency’s government. We find that there can be significant welfare gains to a vehicle currency in a system of many independent currencies. But these gains are asymmetrically weighted toward the residents of the vehicle currency country. The survival of a vehicle currency places natural limits on the monetary policy of the vehicle currency country.     

外汇市场深度、网络外部性与美元的国际地位——基于分国别与地区面板数据的实证研究

尽管美元的未来存在不确定性,但从现况来看尚无任何货币具备超越美元的实力,对美元地位的短期走势并不能作出简单的判断.作者运用面板数据模型对美元国际地位的影响因素进行了实证分析.结果表明,一国外汇市场的发达程度对美元国际地位的确定产生了重要的正面影响:一国外汇市场越发达,其越青睐于持有美元;另外在动态面板数据模型中,前一期外汇市场的实际货币交易量也是决定美元国际地位的显著因素,并且前-期外汇市场的实际货币交易量越大,该国对美元的需求量越大.这一结论证实了网络外部性效应的存在.     

Exchange rate sensitivity of the demand for money in developing countries

There is consensus among researches that under the present floating exchange rate system although developing countries peg their exchange rate to a major currency, they cannot avoid fluctuation in their effective exchange rates as long as major currencies fluctuate against one another. Few authors have investigated the effects of changes in effective exchange rates of developing countries on their imports, exports, trade balance, demand for international reserves, inflation etc. In this paper we try to inestigate the effects of effective exchange rates of developing countries on their demand for money. Previous authors who have estimated a money demand function, inclusive of an exchange rate variable (bilateral or effective), have restricted themselves to industrial countries only. By using quarterly data over the 1973–85 period, it is shown that in most developing countries, while the short-run effcts of depreciation could be in either direction, its long-run effects are negative indicating that depreciation causes a decline in the demand for domestic currency.     

储备型汇率制度:发行非国际货币的发展中国家(地区)之选择

国际货币与非国际货币之区分构成了当前国际金融体系典型的非对称特征。该种区分必将影响不同国家间汇率及汇率制度的选择。本文试图提出一种观点:发行非国际货币的发展中国家所选择的汇率制度可以形容为"储备型汇率制度"。在该种制度下,中央银行对外汇市场不断进行干预以实现其国际货币储备的不断积累,由此而造成本币长期贬值(或低估)和贸易的持续顺差。该种观点不仅与当今世界汇率与汇率制度分布之事实相一致,而且还可通过一个反映发展中国家中央银行行为的动态优化模型进行严格的理论证明。尽管"储备型汇率制度"可能与当前IMF所规定的反"货币操纵"条款相冲突,但是在当前这种不公正和非对称的国际货币体系下,该制度无疑是发展中国家的最优选择。     

The purchasing power parity of Southeast Asian currencies: A time-varying coefficient approach

The economies of Southeast Asia have undergone several structural changes, including the Asian currency crisis, during the post-Bretton Woods era. We use a time-varying coefficient cointegration model to test for purchasing power parity (PPP) of Southeast Asian currencies and to track changes in purchasing power relationships over time. The main empirical findings are as follows. First, the stability of the relationship between exchange rates and price differentials is strongly rejected. Second, a major structural change occurs at the outbreak of the Asian currency crisis in 1997. Third, when the cointegration vector is allowed to vary with time, we find evidence of a cointegration relationship for four countries in terms of the US dollar and for four countries in terms of the Japanese yen. Therefore, it seems unlikely that Southeast Asian currencies form a “yen bloc.”     

汇率收益率及其收益波动率存在长记忆性吗?——基于人民币汇率和欧元汇率的经验分析

长记忆性研究一直是金融实证研究的一个热点,但过去多数研究主要集中于资本市场。汇率收益率的长记忆性将影响外汇市场的有效性,汇率收益波动率的长记忆性则可能对汇率风险及汇率未来变化产生作用。基于此,本文选择人民币兑美元汇率、欧元兑美元汇率作为研究对象,运用经典重标极差分析法、重标方差分析法及小波方差分析法分别考察它们的收益率和收益波动率序列的长记忆性。研究结果表明:人民币汇率收益率存在长记忆性,而欧元汇率收益率不存在长记忆性;两种汇率收益波动率都存在显著的长记忆性特征,但人民币汇率收益波动率的非周期循环天数长于欧元汇率收益波动率。结论说明了欧元汇率发展的成熟以及人民币汇率形成机制的相对低效,并为追踪汇市行为特征及制定外汇政策提供了新的视角。     

Currency Substitution: A Multicurrency Study for Canada

In this paper we examine currency substitution in Canadian money demand ls-a-vis the currencies of seven industrialized countries. A multicurrency variant of the money demand function is estimated to test for the presence and extent of this substitution. The results (except for the British pound) conform to expectations and show complementarity between currencies. It is also found that the degree of currency substitution under flexible rates exceeds that under fixed rates. We also question the validity of the tests for the presence of currency substitution which do not distinguish between exchange rate regimes. [430]     

Exchange rate volatility and the role of regional currency linkages: the ASEAN case

As the economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have moved towards closer economic ties and trade integration in recent years, the establishment of exchange rate stability is becoming an important regional policy concern, particularly in the wake of the Asian currency crisis of 1997. This paper examines the exchange rate volatility of the currencies of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand between 1974 and 1999. Using variance decomposition (VDC) methods and impulse response functions, which are VAR-related estimation techniques, the study also investigates the regional currency linkages which may have played a role in transmitting exchange rate fluctuations. The results indicate that, in spite of the adoption of the crawling peg exchange regime following the breakup of the Bretton Woods system, all of the five ASEAN currencies experienced volatility, with the Indonesian rupiah posting the highest volatility level. The switch to de facto pegging against the US dollar in the mid-1980s helped to stabilize all ASEAN currencies with the exception of the Malaysian ringgit. Each of the five currencies became more susceptible to instabilities in other ASEAN currencies in the post-1985 period. Consistent with the experience of the Asian currency crisis, the Thai baht was the main channel through which regional currency fluctuations were transmitted.     

Currency Boards when Interest Rates are Zero

In a fixed exchange rate system, any expectation that the peg may be abandoned will normally be reflected in an interest rate differential between instruments denominated in domestic and anchor currencies: the possibility of a revaluation will drive domestic interest rates below those in the anchor currency, for example. However, when interest rates are close to the zero lower bound, there is limited scope for exchange rate expectations to be reflected in interest rate differentials. Here we introduce a new mechanism, based on the central bank balance sheet, which works to bring about equilibrium in currency markets even when interest rates are zero. An expectation of exchange rate appreciation will cause foreign exchange reserves to swell, increasing the cost to policy‐makers of allowing an appreciation and, therefore, lowering the likelihood of the fixed exchange rate being abandoned. Under normal circumstances, this channel reinforces the equilibrating effect of interest rate differentials. When interest rates cannot adjust only this channel operates, implying that much larger changes in reserves are required to equilibrate currency markets. We develop a simple model to illustrate these arguments and find support for the predictions of the model using data for Hong Kong, the world's largest economy with a currency board.     

Internationalisation of the Renminbi as an Investing and a Funding Currency: Analytics and Prospects

This paper develops a three‐currency model to study the determinants of the demand for assets and liabilites denominated in an international currency and to shed light on the prospects for the renminbi as a budding international currency. We show that interest rate differentials would be only one of the factors shaping the renminbi's position, while other factors, including the correlation between foreign countries' economic growth and their bilateral exchange rates against the renminbi, and the correlation between exchange rates of the renminbi with other international currencies, would also be important. A broad interpretation of these findings is that the renminbi will likely be attractive to investors from high‐income economies and fund‐raisers from emerging market economies.     

Are exchange rates interdependent? Evidence using wavelet analysis

We examine the co-movement in daily returns of USD–INR, EUR–INR, GBP–INR, and JPY–INR currency pair futures contracts traded on the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) using the wavelet cohesion approach. This study contributes to the literature by examining the scantly studied area of co-movement in exchange rates and using the wavelet approach, which allows us to analyse time–frequency-wise co-movement of the time series. The empirical results indicate that the currency futures markets are nearly perfectly integrated in the long run (monthly, quarterly and biannual scales) offering little potential gains from international portfolio diversification. The discrepancies between currency futures markets are small and almost fade away within 3–6 months. Moreover, international currency diversification might offer relatively higher potential gains at intraweek, weekly, and fortnightly time horizons owing to lower correlations among the currencies under consideration. Finally, our multiple-wavelet correlation and cross-correlation analysis shows that GBP acts as a potential leader/follower across scales. The results of our analysis indicate the dynamic pattern of co-movement among the major currency futures contracts, which provides several implications for portfolio managers and international investors participating in the Indian market.     

双边贸易、外汇市场规模、网络外部性与美元的国际地位——基于国别(地区)市场的实证研究

美元堪称世界的"霸权"货币,其地位的维持要借助在位货币的优势和外力支持,本文通过面板模型对美元国际地位的影响因素进行了实证分析。在静态面板模型中发现,一国(地区)同美国的实际进出口贸易额、一国(地区)外汇市场规模对美元的国际地位均产生重要的正面影响,这表明一国(地区)与美国的实际进出口贸易额越大或一国(地区)外汇市场越发达,该国(地区)对美元的需求量越大。随后的动态面板模型不仅支持了上述结论,而且发现前一期外汇市场的实际货币交易量也是影响美元充当主要国际货币的重要因素,一国(地区)前一期外汇市场的实际货币交易量越大,其越青睐于持有美元,美元在该国(地区)的地位就越高。这一结论证实了网络外部性效应所发挥的重要作用。     

Mundell Revisited: a Simple Approach to the Costs and Benefits of a Single Currency Area

The paper evaluates the costs and benefits of a single currency area within a unified framework. Conventionally, it is argued that a single currency area carries a welfare loss owing to the sacrifice of exchange rate adjustment in the presence of country‐specific shocks. But in 1973 Mundell argued that a single currency area offers risk‐sharing benefits when capital markets are limited in their ability to facilitate consumption insurance. The authors construct a simple model and compare a system of independent national currencies to a single currency area. The presence of country‐specific shocks may either reduce or enhance the benefits of a single currency area, depending on the importance of exchange rate adjustment relative to risk‐sharing. In a simple quantitative analysis, we find that either regime may dominate, although the utility differences between the two regimes are very small.     

Passthrough Estimates and the Choice of an Exchange Rate Index*

We examine exchange rate passthrough into US import prices for 29 manufacturing industries using eight exchange rate indexes. These indexes vary by the number of currencies included; whether the weight on each currency is based on total trade with the United States or solely imports; and, whether the weights vary by industry. Our results indicate that passthrough is generally incomplete but varies across industries. Moreover, passthrough is sensitive to the exchange rate index. Using bootstrapped J‐tests we show that major currency indexes perform better than their broad currency counterparts. When using a major currency index, industry‐specific exchange rate indexes are preferred to aggregate indexes.