Currency Undervaluation and Sovereign Wealth Funds: A New Role for the World Trade Organization

Arvind Subramanian and Aaditya Mattoo

No 142, Working Papers from Center for Global Development

Abstract: Two aspects of global imbalances—undervalued exchange rates and sovereign wealth funds (SWFs)—require a multilateral response. For reasons of inadequate leverage and eroding legitimacy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has not been effective in dealing with undervalued exchange rates. We propose new rules in the World Trade Organization (WTO) to discipline cases of significant undervaluation that are clearly attributable to government action. The rationale for WTO involvement is that there are large trade consequences of undervalued exchange rates, which act as both import tariffs and export subsidies, and that the WTO's enforcement mechanism is credible and effective. The WTO would not be involved in exchange rate management, and our proposals do not entail the WTO displacing the IMF: Rather, they would harness the comparative advantage of the two institutions, with the IMF providing the essential technical expertise in the WTO enforcement process. On SWFs, there is a bargain to be struck between countries with SWFs, which want secure and liberal access for their capital, and capital-importing countries that have concerns about the objectives and operations of SWFs. The WTO is the natural place to strike this bargain. Its services agreement, the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), already covers investments by SWFs, and other agreements offer a precedent for designing disciplines for SWFs. Placing exchange rates and SWFs on the trade negotiating agenda may help revive the Doha Round by rekindling the interest of a wide variety of groups, many of whom are currently disengaged from the round.

Keywords: exchange rates; undervaluation; sovereign wealth funds; World Trade Organization; International Monetary Fund (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F21 F31 F32 F53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 30 pages
Date: 2008-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hap and nep-mig
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (28)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Currency Undervaluation and Sovereign Wealth Funds: A New Role for the World Trade Organization (2009)
Working Paper: Currency Undervaluation and Sovereign Wealth Funds: A New Role for the World Trade Organization (2008)
Working Paper: Currency undervaluation and sovereign wealth funds: a new role for the World Trade Organization (2008)
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