Characteristics

ACU Objectives

Keynes Framework of ICU

1

Mechanism

Facility for payments for current international transactions among the members on a multilateral net basis.

Increase exports and imports among members by conservation of foreign exchange in intra-group transactions until the settlement.

2

Currency

Use of participants’ currencies in trade settlements leading to savings in foreign reserves.

Use of Bancor for trade settlements. Bancor was expected to be an instrument of international currency having general acceptability.

3

Future scenario

To promote monetary co-operation among the participants and closer relations among the banking systems in their territories―to facilitate expansion of trade and economic activity among the countries of the ESCAP region.

Framework expected to use ICU as ground for regional economic co-operation in general and for monetary and financial co-operation in particular.

4

Flexibility

To provide for currency swap arrangement among the participants so as to make Asian Monetary Units available to them temporarily.

A system is expected to possess an internal stabilizing mechanism whereby creditors would temporarily provide credit to debtors subject of corrective action being initiated by the later.