Beauty Queens and Wallflowers: Currency Unions in the Middle East and Central Asia

By Katrin Elborgh-Woytek, Julian Berengaut

October 1, 2006

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Format: Chicago

Katrin Elborgh-Woytek, and Julian Berengaut. Beauty Queens and Wallflowers: Currency Unions in the Middle East and Central Asia, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2006) accessed November 23, 2024

Disclaimer: This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF.The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate

Summary

Against the background of the theory of optimum currency areas, the paper analyzes possible sequences for establishing a currency union (CU) in the Middle East and Central Asia region. Between the corner solutions of independent currencies for all countries in the region and a CU comprising all countries, a large number of combinations of member countries in the CU is possible. The analysis aims to determine the composition of potential CUs as a function of the country initiating the CU, an exogenously determined number of currencies in the region, and the weight attached to the particular selection criteria. Within this framework, the study seeks to establish whether some countries are consistently selected at early stages of the process, while others join only at later stages.

Subject: Currencies, Economic integration, Exchange rates, Exports, Foreign exchange, Inflation, International trade, Monetary unions, Money, Prices

Keywords: Algeria, Central Asia, Common currency, Country ranking, Currencies, Currency map, Currency Union, Exchange rates, Exports, Inflation, Inflation rate, Middle East, Middle East and Central Asia, Monetary unions, Nominal exchange rate, Optimum Currency Areas, Pakistan, Small country, WP

Publication Details

Pages:

26
Volume:

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DOI:

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Issue:

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Series:

Working Paper No. 2006/226
Stock No:

WPIEA2006226
ISBN:

9781451864861
ISSN:

1018-5941

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