APPLICATIONS OF REAL EXCHANGE RATE ANALYSIS

This paper presents an approach for analyzing changes in the real exchange rate. It cites three views of the real exchange rate and outlines the complex forces that cause the rate to change. Using data from the International Monetary Fund's International Financial Statistics, the analysis then focuses on selected countries, each chosen because its experience reflects the operation of a principal force affecting the exchange rate. A summary of the experience of several countries during the 1970–1983 period illustrates the importance of the real exchange rate in the wake of inflationary episodes, oil crises, massive capital movements, and debt crises during that period. The analysis directs particular attention toward the central role that real exchange rate movements have played in the international debt crisis.