Some authors argue in favor of a real exchange rate targeting strategy for developing countries in what could be called a development approach to exchange rates. According to the argument, relatively undervalued exchange rates have been a key factor in most East and Southeast Asian successful growth strategies. Following this so-called development approach, the objective of the paper is to compare the path of exchange rate levels in Asia and Latin America from 1970 to 1999. The work reviews some aspects of exchange rate management for some countries in those regions based on several case studies. It also presents an evolution of real exchange rate levels for a set of 20 countries based on World Bank data and on an index of exchange rate distortion.
Exchange rate levels; Growth; Latin America; East and Southeast Asia
