This article considers a transition toward European monetary union that combines increased substitution of currencies and greater monetary, financial, and fiscal policy coordination. It explores how such a transition would affect national inflation and interest rates and required reserve ratios...

Macau pegs its currency, the pataca, to the Hong Kong dollar, which in turn is pegged to the U.S. dollar. This type of pegging order is unique in the annals of international financial arrangements. This article analyzes the structure of the pegged exchange rate systems in Macau and Hong Kong and...

This study investigates the impacts of the degree of currency substitution on nominal exchange rate volatility in seven countries (Indonesia, the Philippines, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Argentina, and Peru). We use the Threshold ARCH model to consider the ratchet effect of currency...

A considerable part of the euro banknotes issued since 2002 is in circulation in Central, Eastern and Southeastern European (CESEE) countries. This can be attributed to the fact that numerous economic agents resorted to currency substitution in a parallel safe haven currency during the crisis...

This study investigates the impacts of the degree of currency substitution on nominal exchange rate volatility in seven countries (Indonesia, the Philippines, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Argentina, and Peru). We use the Threshold ARCH model to consider the ratchet effect of currency...

The staff report on Belarus’ Third Review under the Stand-By Arrangement is examined. Belarus is beginning to emerge from the crisis. Output loss has been limited relative to neighbors, inflation has fallen, the foreign exchange market has stabilized, and de-dollarization is under way,...

This paper discusses key findings of the First Review under the Stand-By Arrangement for the Republic of Belarus. All end-March 2009 quantitative and continuous performance criteria and structural benchmarks were met, except for the net international reserves target, which was missed by US$221...

This 2009 Article IV Consultation highlights that Belarus has so far escaped a significant fall in output, despite a sharp fall in external demand. GDP declined 0.5 percent year over year in the first eight months of 2009, comparing favorably to Belarus’ main trading partners. Economic...

This 2009 Article IV Consultation highlights that the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’s vulnerability at the outset of the global crisis was its large current account deficit in the context of the exchange rate peg to the euro. At the same time, it benefited from a small fiscal...