what is a currency board? a currency board is a monetary authority (like the argentinean central bank) that issues notes and currencies convertible into a foreign currency like the dollar at a fixed rate on demand. the currency which acts as a peg is known as an anchor or reserve currency. how does the currency board work? to guarantee the fixed exchange rate, the board holds 100 per cent or a little more of the notes and coins issued as reserves. these reserves are usually in the form of low risk bonds and other liquid assets denominated in the anchor currency. in the somewhat extreme instance of all domestic currency holders wanting to convert to the anchor currency, the board can do this by liquidating all its reserves. the exchange rate remains fixed. in effect, the central bank abdicates all control of domestic monetary policy. domestic money supply goes up if there is an inflow of dollars into the economy and contracts when there is an outflow. is it similar to the gold standard? currency boards are similar to commodity standards like gold and silver, which were popular till the '30s. under the gold standard, a currency note was a claim on a fixed weight in gold. under the currency board, the currency becomes a claim on a fixed amount of dollars. what is 'dollarisation'? dollarisation, which is being contemplated in argentina now, takes the currency board a step further. here, a foreign currency becomes legal tender in the domestic economy. thus, the us dollar would replace the peso if argentina dollarises. in situations where confidence in the local currency is very low, governments find it convenient to switch to a more credible, hard currency, like the dollar. what are the more prominent currency boards? a currency board was first adopted in mauritius in 1849 and most recently by bosnia in 1997. the most prominent currency board today is perhaps hong kong where the central bank maintains a fixed parity of 7.8 hong kong dollars to the us dollar. another currency board, much in the news of late, is argentina which adopted the system in '91. the use of currency boards reached a peak in the '40s when 50 countries adopted the system to stave off severe inflationary pressures which followed the war. when are currency boards adopted? governments adopt currency boards when their economies are in tatters. long periods of high inflation, shrinking output and bloated government deficits precipitate a 'run' on the currency when holders rush to convert the local currency to a strong currency like the us dollar or pounds sterling. the result is a crash in the exchange rate. to counter this, governments switch to currency boards. this helps to stabilise the currency as well as tackle the underlying malaise. commitment to a fixed parity stems fears of further devaluation. by taking monetary control out of the hands of the central bank , the system stops profligate governments from funding their spending binges by printing money. why didn't it work in argentina? there are essentially two disparate views on why argentina faces a crisis of confidence despite its currency board. those opposed to the use of currency boards claim that a board is no magic pill or cure for all economic ailments. as a matter of fact, by creating an impression of economic calm, they divert attention from critical issues like fiscal restructuring or revamp of the banking system. governments fool others and themselves into believing that they have stemmed the rot. in reality, the situation just gets worse culminating in a crisis. the imf, incidentally, used this argument to stop indonesia from going in for currency board after the asian crisis. believers in the system argue that it failed to work in argentina because the government diluted the board. for instance, it reduced the reserves held in the anchor currency from 100 to 66 per cent, signalling in effect that it would soon return to conventional central banking with its associated problems. it also went in for implicit devaluation (technically, the board cannot devalue since it's committed to the fixed parity) by offering an export subsidy and a hike in import tariffs. this mimics a drop in the currency's value. the bottomline, according to these economists, is that half-baked currency boards don't work. what are the problems with a currency board? central banks which go in for currency boards lose control of monetary policy. that brings in another set of problems. for instance, conventional central banks play the role of the 'lender of last resort' if there is a run on domestic banks. by lending cheap and easy, they make sure that banks don't run out of cash if depositors start pulling out. this helps to restore confidence in the banking system with a currency board, the central bank becomes a passive observer in such situations.