SFB 303 Discussion Paper No. B - 283
Author: Weber, Axel A.
Title: Intervention, Policy Coordination and the Future of EMU: A German
Perspective
Abstract: The paper aims at understanding why and how central banks have
intervened in foreign exchange markets, and whether intervention was (i)
coordinated, (ii) sterilized, and (iii) effective. The experience in the G-3
context is compared to the past EMS experience. In addition to foreign
exchange intervention, the issue of international monetary policy
coordination is discussed, again both within the G-3 and the EMS context.
Based on this quantitative evaluation, the recent EMS crisis between
September 1992 and August 1993 is reviewed and an attempt is made to explain
why the EMS has failed. It is argued that whilst German unification played a
role in the fall of the EMS, the blame for the failure of the EMS should not
be placed on the Bundesbank alone.
Keywords: central bank intervention, sterilisation, international policy
coordination, exchange rate crisis, EMS
JEL-Classification-Number: E58, F31, F33
Creation-Date: Revised June 1994
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