South-South Regional Financial Arrangements: Collaboration Towards Resilience

As the world comes to grips with the devastating economic and public health consequences of COVID-19, Southern-led alternative institutions for finance and development have taken on more importance than ever.

The new book, “South-South Regional Financial Arrangements: Collaboration Towards Resilience,” from William N. Kring and Kevin P. Gallagher, in partnership with Diana Barrowclough and Richard Kozul-Wright of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, charts the dramatic change in the global financial and monetary landscape that has unfolded over the last few decades; in particular, through the expansion of Southern-led and Southern-oriented institutions and mechanisms. The change is profound, and the evolution of the Southern-led financial architecture is likely to continue, as the South not only adapts to changing global economic conditions, but changes them—increasing its role in global economic governance.

The book takes stock of some of the most interesting adaptations and institutions led by the South with respect to short-term foreign liquidity and emergency finance. It focuses on common currency areas and payment systems designed to avoid exposure to volatile international currencies and to promote a more resilient pattern of interregional trade; the potential for the newly emergent Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) to play a more developmental role; and short-term liquidity mechanisms that can provide countercyclical finance or liquidity to member countries, oftentimes more quickly and more generously than the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

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