Currency internationalisation: lessons from the global financial crisis and prospects for the future in Asia and the Pacific

Joint conference of the Bank of Korea and the Bank for International Settlements on "Currency internationalisation: lessons from the global financial crisis and prospects for the future in Asia and the Pacific", Seoul, Korea, 19-20 March 2009. 

On 19-20 March 2009, the BIS Asian Office and the Bank of Korea co-hosted a high-level seminar on currency internationalisation in Seoul. Participants from 12 central banks as well as academic scholars and BIS economists attended the seminar. The purpose of the seminar was to review experiences of economies in the Asia-Pacific region with currency internationalisation and to assess the prospects for further internationalisation, emphasising the policy implications facing central banks if current trends continue. Lessons learned about currency internationalisation since the intensification of the strains in global markets in mid-2007 were also discussed.

A collection of the speeches, presentations and papers from the seminar were released as BIS Papers No 61 in January 2012.

Thursday 19 March 2009
Opening remarks
Sung-il Lee, Senior Deputy Governor, Bank of Korea
Opening remarks
Már Gudmundsson, Deputy Head of Monetary and Economic Department, Bank for International Settlements
 
Session one: Current issues in currency internationalisation
Chair: Eli Remolona, Chief Representative for Asia and the Pacific, Bank for International Settlements
Currency internationalisation: an overview
Peter Kenen, Professor Emeritus, Princeton University
Motivations for swap-covered foreign currency borrowig

Anella Munro and Philip Wooldridge, Senior Economists, BIS Asian Office

 
Session two: Perspectives from Europe and Japan
Chair: Akinari Horii, Assistant Governor, Bank of Japan
The euro: internationalised at birth
Frank Moss, Director General, International Relations, European Central Bank
Internationalising the yen, 1984-2003: unfinished agenda or mission impossible?
Shinji Takagi, Professor, Osaka University
Discussant: Robert McCauley, Senior Advisor, Bank for International Settlements (discussion)
 
Session three: Prospects for the renminbi
Chair: Ric Battellino, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of Australia
Internationalisation of the renminbi
Yongding Yu and Haihong Gao, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
The potential of the renminbi as an international currency: what we can learn from international experience
Wensheng Peng, Head of China Research, Barclays Capital
Hongyi Chen, Senior Manager, Hong Kong Institute for Monetary Research
Chang Shu, Senior Manager, Hong Kong Monetary Authority
Discussant: Frank Song, Professor, School of Economics and Finance, University of Hong Kong
 
Session four: Progress towards internationalisation
Chair: Rizal A. Djaafara, Director of Center for Banking Education and Studies, Bank Indonesia
Dealing with the benefits and costs of internationalisation of the Korean won
Kyungsoo Kim, Deputy Governor
Young Kyung Suh, Deputy Director-General, Institute for Monetary and Economic Research, Bank of Korea
Singapore dollar's evolution away from non-internationalisation
Luke Goh, Deputy Director and Head, Reserve & Monetary Management, Monetary Authority of Singapore
Discussant: Atchana Waiquamdee, Deputy Governor, Bank of Thailand (discussion)
 
Session five: The regional dimension
Chair: Kyungsoo Kim, Deputy Governor, Bank of Korea

Internationalisation of currency in East Asia: implications for regional monetary and financial cooperation
Yung Chul Park and Kwanho Shin, Professors, Korea University
Discussant: Rizal A. Djaafara, Director of Center for Banking Education and Studies, Bank Indonesia (discussion)
Friday 20 March 2009 
 
Session six: Monetary policy challenges with an internationalised currency
Chair: Do-Soung Choi, Member of the Monetary Policy Committee, Bank of Korea
An internationalised rupee?
Shyamala Gopinath, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India
A generation of an internationalised Australian dollar
Ric Battellino, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of Australia
Discussant: Diwa Guinigundo, Deputy Governor, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (discussion)
 
Session seven: Panel Discussion: Lessons from the crisis and prospects for the future
Chair: Már Gudmundsson, Deputy Head of Monetary and Economic Department, Bank for International Settlements
Currency internationalisation: analytical and policy issues
Hans Genberg, Executive Director, Hong Kong Monetary Authority
Panelists: Akinari Horii, Assistant Governor, Bank of Japan (panel discussion)
Gwang-Ju Rhee, Deputy Governor, Bank of Korea (panel discussion)
Grant Spencer, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of New Zealand (panel discussion)
Sang Kuang Ooi, Deputy Governor, Bank Negara Malaysia