If Europe can have it why not Asia? The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has recently revived a six-year-old idea for a common Asian currency and the matter came up at a meeting of “Asean + 3” finance ministers on the sidelines of the Asia Development Bank (ADB) meeting at Hyderabad in India early this month.
The theme was that Asian leaders should create a new framework of security to make up for the absence of a firm mechanism of regional cooperation.
The idea of a single currency for Asia and of integrating the region’s economies came about after the financial crisis of 1997-98 and has been backed by the Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda.
“A common Asian currency would make it easier for companies and governments to borrow at lower rates of interest, according to Standard & Poor’s. The Indian government is likely to step up its efforts to join the league of Asian countries that are working on a plan to evolve a common currency unit.”
This comes in the wake of finance ministers of Asean nations making it almost clear that they would not take India into account while studying the viability of a common unit.
Finance ministers Jin Renqing of China, Sadakazu Tanigaki of Japan and Han Duck Soo of South Korea agreed May 4 to work toward a unified Asian currency. The governments agreed to set up a research team to explore the introduction of the currency by the end of 2006. Finance ministers said high oil prices and rising interest rates may threaten economies in the region.
Asian countries are becoming large sources of investments for each other. “The various FTAs being evolved among countries in the region is also boosting integration. A common currency could therefore be desirable for facilitating intra-regional trade and investments.
“Perhaps that’s why the Asian Development Bank has proposed the creation of Asian currency unit (ACU) recently, as a step towards creating a common currency eventually. The creation of ACU, just like the European Currency Unit (ECU) preceding euro, could be the answer for the time being.
“Of course, some criteria need to be fulfilled for a region to be an optimal currency area, besides strong monetary coordination that effectively erodes the monetary sovereignty of members.
“However, the creation of a regional unit of account or ACU, just like the European Currency Unit (ECU) preceding euro, could be the answer for the time being.
“The ACU will not require the surrender of monetary sovereignty, while providing most of the benefits of common currency.”
An ADB study states the major hurdles to the adoption of a common currency in Asia as:
Diversity in economic development across countries; Weakness in financial sectors; Inadequacy of region-level resource pooling mechanisms and institutions required for forming and managing a currency union; Lack of political preconditions required for such co-operation.
“The marked difference between EU and Asia lies in the immense diversity in the development stages of the economies. It varies from extremely poor to the highly developed.”
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.