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...

Hong Kong is an open economy that uses foreign currencies extensively in domestic payments. This paper focuses on substitution between the domestic and foreign currencies in their role as media of payments in such an economy. It uses quarterly data to estimate currency substitution (CS) for Hong...

In a surprisingly growing number of regions in Germany private "regional currencies" are issued as a cash substitute for the euro. Currently, these regional currencies are conceived almost exclusively as Schwundgeld (depreciative currency), which loses value on a predetermined timescale. This...

The currency board (Convertibility) collapsed between December 2001 and January 2002, after almost 11 years in force. The trends leading to the meltdown continued in the following months, plunging half of the population into poverty and one third into extreme poverty. Only six months later, the...

In this study, the endogenous money hypothesis is examined for the Argentinean economy employing exogeneity tests by using monthly data for the time period 1991-2001 within the frame of money and price relationship in a Currency Board-like system. Empirical results support the hypothesis which...