Monetary Cooperation in South Asia

A study has been also conducted on the potential and prospects of monetary cooperation in South Asia. It discusses the rationale for monetary integration, examines the feasibility of Optimum Currency Area (OCA) in the region and makes some policy recommendations. The revised version of this paper has been issued as RIS Discussion Paper #71. Another contribution on the subject prepared at RIS is a policy brief (#9) on the single currency in South Asia that proposes a way forward for a currency union with a parallel currency to begin with. Both the papers were presented at RIS/SACEPS Seminar on Monetary Cooperation in South Asia held in New Delhi on December 23, 2003. The ongoing work on the subject covers a review of different approaches towards monetary and financial cooperation in Asia.

Dr. Ramgopal Aggarwala, Dr. Sweta C. Saxena and Dr. Mirza Allim Baig