A tale of Asian exchange rate management: Romance of the three currencies

Asian currencies lack regional policy coordination and are therefore subject to volatilities such as the Asian currency crisis of 1997/99. As the Asian currencies have already been observed to be ‘flying-in-unison’, a stable exchange rate arrangement can be helpful as the next step of evolution for regional financial stability. We consider that creating a cluster effect from coordinated efforts/policies of policy-makers can lead to regional exchange rate stability. To demonstrate this cluster effect, a three-party-game is computed for an Asian bloc, viz-á-viz US dollar and the Euro, based on a Nash and a cooperative equilibrium. The cluster effect would generate external and internal pressures that work towards the formation of a regional currency, although the exact form of exchange rate regime would have to await political consensus. There are substantial welfare gains within Asia network economy through currency cooperation. The formation of an Asian currency bloc would also create counter-balance to the current dominance of the US dollar and the Euro. Like the epic story of Three Kingdoms who sought hegemony in Chinese history, the Asian currency bloc will contend with many possible outcomes of competition as well as cooperation.     

本币名义汇率低于真实汇率是保持国际竞争力的有效手段

本文表达了如下想法:①名义汇率围绕真实汇率上下波动的调整,会促使一国国际收支恶化或者改善;②美元对人民币贬值并不一定能够满足马歇尔———勒纳条件和解决中美国际收支失衡问题,因为失衡问题主要是美国的国内因素以及限制对华技术出口与中国商品进口所引起的;③我国作为一个发展中国家,应该适度控制名义汇率,使其低于真实汇率,才能支持劳动力优势,保持国际收支顺差;④国际收支长期盈余,是我国经济增长和经济安全的保证。     

On the feasibility of a regional exchange rate system for East Asia: Lessons of the 1992/1993 EMS crisis

This paper argues that a regional exchange rate system such as the EMS should not be ruled out when discussing monetary options for East Asia. The paper recalls that the 1992/1993 EMS crisis was the crisis of an exchange rate system and not just the collapse of unilateral pegs pursued by individual countries. It discusses distinct features that add to the credibility of regional exchange rate systems and reasons that a system that is built around well-defined rules and which is managed very carefully and cooperatively according to those rules could be both credible and sustainable even in the 21st century.     

The effect of exchange rate volatility on international trade in East Asia

In this paper, we empirically investigate the relationship between exchange rate volatility and international trade, focusing on East Asia. Our findings are summarized as follows: first, intra-East Asian trade is discouraged by exchange rate volatility more seriously than trade in other regions. Second, one important source of the discouragement is that intermediate goods trade in international production networks, which is quite sensitive to exchange rate volatility compared with other types of trade, occupies a significant fraction of East Asian trade. Third, the negative effect of the volatility is greater than that of tariffs and smaller than that of distance-related costs in East Asia.     

The role of oil price shocks on China's real exchange rate

This paper investigates to what extent the oil price shock and three other types of underlying macroeconomic shocks impact the trend movements of China's real exchange rate. By constructing a four-dimensional structural VAR model, the results suggest that real oil price shocks would lead to a minor appreciation of the long-term real exchange rate due to China's lesser dependence on imported oil than its trading partners included in the RMB basket peg regime and rigorous government energy regulations. The real shocks, as opposed to nominal shocks, are found to be dominant in the variations of the real exchange rate.     

A structural break in the effects of Japanese foreign exchange intervention on yen/dollar exchange rate volatility

We study the impact of Japanese foreign exchange intervention on the volatility of the yen/dollar exchange rate since the early 1990’s in a GARCH framework with interventions as exogenous variables. Using daily intervention data provided by the Japanese Ministry of Finance, we show that the effect of interventions varies over time. From 1991 up to the late 1990’s, Japanese foreign exchange intervention is associated with an increase in volatility of the yen/dollar exchange rate. After the year 1997, Japanese foreign exchange intervention correlates with reductions in exchange rate volatility. This can be explained by the fact that Japanese foreign exchange intervention remained quasi unsterilized in the liquidity trap.

转轨时期的中国汇率制度选择

在一个开放经济体中,汇率是处于核心地位的经济变量;汇率制度是一国经济实现内外均衡的桥梁。文章通过对各种汇率选择理论的分析,结合转轨时期中国经济的特点,讨论了人民币汇率制度的选择,提出爬行钉住美元制是较为合适的汇率安排。     

我国基本养老保险基金收支平衡的财务分析

文章根据我国近年来的相关数据资料,通过基金运动的收支平衡关系,对我国目前基本养老保险基金的缴费率进行了计算,并探讨各相关财务指标对基金缴费率的影响程度。