The information and communication technology (ICT) revolution of the past 3 decades has transformed the world into an integrated marketplace. Today, producers and consumers alike are able to compare the prices of local businesses and worldwide sellers. For an increasing number of tradable goods,...

The 14 Pacific developing member countries (DMCs) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have opted for very different exchange rate regimes with varying degrees of flexibility. Whereas several microstates have adopted an external currency as their legal tender, others have decided to use a basket...

For many observers, internationalization is the yuan's manifest destiny - an irresistible by-product of the remarkable economic success of the People's Republic of China (PRC). But is such confidence warranted? Recent history has seen the emergence of other currencies that were also expected, at...

Since the formal launch of the renminbi trade settlement scheme in 2009, renminbi internationalization has made impressive inroads. The progress in renminbi trade settlement is especially impressive. However, Hong Kong, China's offshore renminbi deposits failed to make significant progress as...

As the world's second largest economy, largest trading nation, and the largest foreign holder of United States (US) government bonds, the People's Republic of China (PRC) needs a currency with international status that can match its economic status in the global economy. However, sequencing is...

The growing weight of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the world economy, measured by gross domestic product (GDP) and trade volume, has intensified debate on the potential international role of its currency - the renminbi (RMB). This paper provides an overview of RMB internationalization...

This paper discusses Japan's strategy for Asian monetary integration. It argues that Japan faces three major policy challenges when promoting intraregional exchange rate stability. First, there must be some convergence of exchange rate regimes in East Asia, and the most realistic option is for...

This paper takes stock of recent research dealing with the degree to which the trilemma choices of Asian countries facilitated a smoother adjustment during the global crisis of 2008-2009, and the way the region has been coping with the adjustment to the postcrisis challenges. We point out that...

This paper discusses the increasingly important roles of Asian official institutions in the new global financial landscape and the reasons that have led to the build-up of massive public surpluses. We re-examine the role of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) as the de facto global lender of last...

Many have argued that the major source of the existing global macroeconomic imbalances are the twin deficits of the United States (US). However, there is still a debate about whether the global imbalances indeed pose a significant threat to the world economy. This matter is settled by arguing...