While most observers concur that the time is not ripe for Asia to consider a common currency, there has been some discussion about the possible creation of an Asian Currency Unit (ACU). This paper examines the specific issue of the ACU which, in a general sense, is a weighted average of regional...

A common feature of numerous studies on early warning systems (EWS) of currency crisis is the use of an index of exchange market pressure, defined as a weighted average of the rate of depreciation, the monthly percentage changes in international reserves, and sometimes the inclusion of the...

Asian central banks react more strongly to currency appreciations than depreciations and more to nominal effective exchange rates (NEERs) than to bilateral US dollar rates. This rationalizes the relative exchange rate stability and the sustained reserve accumulation in the region.