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Foreign exchange

Exchange rates Currency band Exchange rate Exchange rate regime Fixed exchange rate Floating exchange rate Linked exchange rate

Markets Foreign exchange market Futures exchange Retail forex

Products Currency Currency future Non-deliverable forward Forex swap Currency swap Foreign exchange option

See also Bureau de change

A floating exchange rate or a flexible exchange rate is a type of exchange rate regime wherein a currency's value is allowed to fluctuate according to the foreign exchange market. A currency that uses a floating exchange rate is known as a floating currency. The opposite of a floating exchange rate is a fixed exchange rate.

There are economists who think that, in most circumstances, floating exchange rates are preferable to fixed exchange rates. As floating exchange rates automatically adjust, they enable a country to: dampen the impact of shocks & foreign business cycles; and preempt the possibility of having a balance of payments crisis. However, in certain situations, fixed exchange rates may be preferable for their greater stability and certainty. This may not necessarily be true, considering the results of countries that attempt to keep the prices of their currency "strong" or "high" relative to others, such as the UK or the Southeast Asia countries before the Asian currency crisis. The debate of making a choice between fixed and floating exchange rate regimes is set forth by Mundell-Fleming model understood, which argues that an economy cannot simultaneously maintain a fixed exchange rate, free capital movement, and an independent monetary policy. It can choose any two for control, and leave third to the market forces.

In cases of extreme appreciation or depreciation, a central bank will normally intervene to stabilize the currency. Thus, the exchange rate regimes of floating currencies may more technically be known as a managed float. A central bank might, for instance, allow a currency price to float freely between an upper and lower bound, a price "ceiling" and "floor". Management by the central bank may take the form of buying or selling large lots in order to provide price support or resistance, or, in the case of some national currencies, there may be legal penalties for trading outside these bounds.

[edit] Fear of floating

The examples and perspective in this section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page.

A free floating exchange rate increases foreign exchange volatility. This may cause serious problems, especially in emerging economies. These economies have a financial sector with one or more of following conditions:

• high liability dollarization
• financial fragility
• strong balance sheet effects

When liabilities are denominated in foreign currencies while assets are in the local currency, unexpected depreciations of the exchange rate deteriorate bank and corporate balance sheets and threaten the stability of the domestic financial system.

For this reason emerging countries appear to face greater fear of floating, as they have much smaller variations of the nominal exchange rate, yet face bigger shocks and interest rate and reserve movements (Calvo and Reinhart, 2002). This is the consequence of frequent free floating countries' reaction to exchange rate movements with monetary policy and/or intervention in the foreign exchange market.

According to data from Levy-Yeyati and Sturzenegger (2004), the number of countries that present fear of floating increased significantly during the nineties.

[edit] References

• Calvo, G., and Reinhart, C. (2002). "Fear of Floating." Quarterly Journal of Economics, 117: 379-408.
• Levy-Yeyati, E. and F. Sturzenegger (2004). "Classifying Exchange Rate Regimes: Deeds vs. Words." European Economic Review.