Is There a Reserve Saving Effect of International Clearing Union? Testing for Asian Clearing Union

Abstract

International Clearing Unions (ICU) are expected to save international reserves for their members. This study derives a benchmark for reserves saving (RSE) that includes all net reserve savings net of costs for inter-temporal credit that accrue from the clearing process within any ICU. As a test case, RSE of Asian Clearing Union (ACU) is computed and is found to be US $4.5 billion per year over the period 2000 to 2015. RSE ranges from zero to US $8 billion. A counterfactual extension of ACU membership to Thailand and Malaysia indicates that the RSE may not necessarily increase. The RSE can be extended to any clearing system that follows the principles of inter-temporal credit, multilateral netting and uses single currency for netting and settlement. RSE of such a clearing systems will depend on the balance of credit and debit positions of members. RSE is highest when the trade is perfectly balanced and the countries follow a floating rate regime.