MANILA, Philippines, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- The Asian Development Bank is to adopt an Asian Currency Unit based on a basket of 13 Asian currencies as a yardstick to measure variations in currency values.
The ACU will be based on the currencies of the 13 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus Japan, China and South Korea, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported Friday.
The relative value of each currency in the basket will be based on the gross domestic product and trade volume of the nation using the currency, as well as its international tradability.
The currencies of Japan, China and South Korea are likely to be of greater value
in the basket.
The ACU is modeled on the European Currency Unit, a floating exchange rate that was adopted in 1979 when the European Monetary System was launched. It was replaced by the euro in 1999.
Analysts say the release of the ACU may be the first step toward an integrated Asian currency.
The Manila-based ADB will publish and revise the ACU as a statistical index on its Web site every day beginning in March, the newspaper added.
