Exchange Rate Regimes
First published: 1999
Brief summary
IMF reference on exchange arrangements and regimes.
Article
The linked IMF page presents a historical classification of exchange-rate arrangements and monetary frameworks. It ranks systems according to the flexibility of the exchange rate and the strength of any formal or informal commitment to a particular exchange-rate path.
Exchange-rate regimes range from arrangements with little independent currency movement to more flexible systems in which market forces play a larger role. Monetary frameworks can also differ according to whether policy is organised around an exchange-rate anchor, monetary target, inflation target or another objective.
The classification is described as de facto because it attempts to record how a system operates in practice rather than relying only on its official legal description. Actual intervention and currency behaviour may differ from a government’s announced regime.
The linked archive was last updated in February 2009 and contains classifications for earlier years. It is useful for historical comparison, but it should not be treated as a current list of national exchange-rate regimes.
Source details and credits
- Source / publisher: IMF
- Source type: Reference
- URL type: WWW
- Credits: IMF
- URL: https://www.imf.org/external/np/mfd/er/index.aspx