On 2nd July 1997 the Bank of Thailand allowed the baht to float, thus ending its struggle to maintain the peg with the US$ in the face of massive speculative attacks, during which the country’s foreign reserves were almost entirely exhaust. The collapse of the Thai currency was rapidly followed by similar events in Indonesia,...Read More
Increased Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) activity is often regarded as the harbinger of broader macro-economic trends. Rising numbers and values of M&A deals frequently precede more general improvements in economic conditions, and are associated with rising incomes, wealth and prosperity. With the above in mind this paper provides an initial investigation of the 2014-16 surge...Read More
On 15th July 2014 the BRICS Group members (Brazil, India, China, Russia and South Africa) signed agreements that established two new international financial institutions, the New Development Bank (NDB) and the Contingency Reserve Arrangement (CRA).[1] The NBD with an initial capital of US$100bn. has a brief to provide no-strings loans to Emerging Market and Developing...Read More
On 22 June 2013 the Bank of England concluded a Rmb200bn. (US$32.6bn.) currency swap agreement with the Peoples Bank of China in order ‘to promote bilateral trade between the two countries and to support domestic financial stability should market conditions warrant’ (Bank of England 2013; Noble 2013). This is the first such agreement with a...Read More
This is the first of a series of planned reports on microcredit in China. In this paper we offer our view of what is preventing microcredit from developing in China and offer a list of recommendations for Chinese policy makers that wish to promote this sector. Our preliminary analysis suggests that microcredit is not developing...Read More
This final report of a series of conferences organised jointly by the Federal Trust and Global Policy Institute working in partnership with the Representation of the European Commission reviews the European policies of the Coalition government during its third year in office. The report stresses the overriding importance of developments in the Eurozone both for...Read More
In the latest GPI Policy Paper, Chris Dixon focuses on the issue of an Asian Monetary Fund (AMF). At the time of its launch in March 2010, the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation (CMIM) was widely reported, particularly in Asia, as heralding the establishment of an AMF that would provide both an independent alternative to the...Read More
Given the dimensions of the human tragedy that has unfolded in Japan since the earthquake struck on 11 March 2011, it is not surprising that the possible consequences for the rest of East and South East Asia have received comparatively little attention. Most commentators have followed the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank in...Read More
The emerging Pacific Asian economies are clearly not immune to the current international financial crisis. All the major economies remain heavily dependent on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and export earnings, particularly from the USA. The vulnerability of the Pacific Asia economies is reflected in the behaviour of the regional stock markets, the sharp declines in...Read More
The Global Policy Institute is a research institute on international affairs. It is based in the City of London, and draws on both a rich pool of international thinkers, academics as well as policy and business professionals. The Institute gives non-partisan guidance to policymakers and decision takers in business, government, and NGOs.
