Export Competitiveness of the CFA Franc Zone Countries

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Other Title
  • CFAフラン圏の輸出競争力
  • CFAフラン圏の輸出競争力--1999-2006期間の実質実効為替レートからの検証
  • CFA フランケン ノ ユシュツ キョウソウリョク 1999 2006 キカン ノ ジッシツ ジッコウ カワセ レート カラ ノ ケンショウ
  • —Examinations of their Real Effective Exchange Rates (1999-2006)—
  • ―1999-2006期間の実質実効為替レートからの検証―

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Abstract

<p>The CFA Franc was introduced to the formerly French-ruled African Countries in 1945, on the day previous to the French accession to IMF. There actually exist two totally different currencies called the CFA franc: The Communauté Financière d'Afrique Franc, which is shared among eight Western African countries and Coopération Financière en Afrique centrale Franc for six Central African countries. Each currency is issued and controlled by its own central bank and the value of both currencies is pegged to the French Franc (or the Euro since 2002) at the same rate.</p><p>However, with the appreciation of the Euro, the appreciation of these two CFA Francs has become a problem of deep concern. Despite the fact that the Sub Saharan African countries had also faced to the same economic crisis since the 1980's, CFA Franc countries are thought to have had far more serious difficulty in adjusting their economies. In this paper, we first identify the institutions of the CFA Franc Zone as well as a range of problematic issues pointed out in empirical research. Second, we calculated the Real Effective Exchange Rates (REER) for those countries based on quarterly data from 1999 to 2006 and compared them with those of neighbor countries.</p><p>Our results show that the REER of most CFA Franc countries did not appreciate because they had succeeded in keeping their price levels sufficiently low. However, most of their neighboring countries, which continued to devaluate their currencies due to instability of their economies were much more competitive. Since the financial crisis of the year 2008, the effect of the exchange rate systems on economic growth attracted the heightened attention. This paper shows some important issues when we will grapple with the development of the CFA Franc Zone Countries.</p>

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