SOUTHEAST ASIAN BLOGGERS NETWORK

Saturday, June 09, 2007

SOUTHEAST ASIA's CURRENCIES






These are the currencies of our neighbouring villages.
I'm sure you were wondering how they look like.








These are the rates against US$ 1
(as of press time, ranked by power)

1.54 SGD (Singapore Dollar)
1.54 BND (Brunei Dollar)
3.46 MYR (Malaysian Ringgit)
6.41 MMK (Burmese Kyat) !!!
32.82 THB (Thai Baht)
46.66 PHP (Philippine Pesos)
4,002.05 KHR (Cambodian Riel)
9,090.70 IDR (Indonesian Rupiah)
9,578.20 LAK (Lao Kip)
16,083.50 VND (Vietnam Dong)


The first 3 are the strongest and almost universally accepted.

The Brunei dollar is pegged to the Singapore dollar at a 1:1 ratio.

The Burmese Kyat was a surprise! But not actually represent their actual economy.

The Baht and the Dong are the fastest appreciating currencies in our region.

The Ringgit, Baht, Riel, Kip and Dong are unique currency names.

The Dollar and the Peso share names with dozen other countries.

The Rupiah was derived from the Rupee of India.

The oldest currency name in continuous use is
the Peso (Philippines) established in 1852.


****

(I swear! I didn't intend to draw a flower vase!)

If Southeast Asia should adapt an Economic Community
like that of the European Union, what do you think should we call
our common currency unit?


--Pisanu

20 Comments:

Misterhubs said...

Hmm. If we get the first 2 words of "Dollar", "Ringgit", "Kyat", "Baht", "Pesos", "Riel", "Rupiah", "Kip" and "Dong" and combine them, we get...

DoRiKy BaPeRi RuKiDo

which we can shorten to "Dorky."

Nah, that's so lame. Have to think of another one. :-)

Anonymous said...

Since we are all a member of the ASEAN, it's not a bad name for our common currency. 10 Aseans, 20 Aseans, 100 Aseans!

Pisanu for BISEAN said...

@lol. yeah misterhubs, quite lame. lol. but i'll give you an A for nice try. lol. just kidding.

@sofia, you stole that idea form me! did you read my drafts?...i'll be in bangkok by tuesday morning.

guys, the ASEAN currency was MY idea! don't listen to sofia. lol.

Unknown said...

Hahaha... I sense a catfight between sofia and pisanu eh?

When I was in university (not so long ago, mind you), we also had a debate whether the ASEAN should form a union similar to the EU and if so, what would the currency name be? Uhm... i hate to burst your bubble Pisanu, but "Aseans" was one of the proposed names. Universal Idea at its best eh?

peace. hehe

Qtheconqueror said...

Euro is taken from Europe right? So, if the Asean does indeed take "Aseans" as its official currency, the short term would be Ase or Asses for short,. haha

Misterhubs said...

Asean is not sexy enough. How about Aseah? The "h" adds a bit of sexiness, I think. ;-)

Cypocalypse said...

The article is a bit wrong since the power of a currency is not necessarily based on its worth against the dollar. Going by that logic, the Yen should have a low purchasing power since it will take 100 Yen to make up a dollar. I think purchasing power, among other factors should also be considered.

aries said...

love the vase-turnout. it's so...gay ahahaha...

having a common currency is not a bad idea but i don't know if asean is stable enough to have one

Laibeus Lord said...

"ASEAN Community will implement the new unified monetary by January 1, 2015, called Dorky"

Actually, lol, that sounds better :p Ok here, for one, all the ASEAN members will debate about which name to use. The Dollar users (and believers) will vote on it (example the Philippines, a Dollar-centric country, our government and certain groups are preparing a proposal to change to Philippine Dollar :p ), and of course other members will want their own to be retained.

The easiest solution is to combine them all as suggested. If it's Dorky, then it is Dorky.

My personal idea tho is "Asyan" which I believe has more 'commonality' since our region, or most of the member countries' languages belong to the same group or family, and "Asyan" rings a bell to all of us.

---
Yes, ASEAN can create a unified money. But first, we need to have a unified basket to balance our economies with each other. ADB (Asian Development Bank) is already due anouncing and implementing the ASEAN Monetary Basket.

Once it's implemented, we don't have to peg "directly" to the US Dollar or Euro, we will be pegging our local currencies/market with the ASEAN Monetary Basket.

That ASEAN Monetary Basket will be the one that will be pegged against the USD and Euro, and the rest of the world like Yen.

Benefits? If there's a USD recession, the effects to our local and regional economy will be lessen, as all of us, our economies are the one putting the strength to the monetary basket. Instead of say, Indonesia taking all of the blow of the USD recession, the effect is neutralized because it is spread-out "equally" (in a sense) to all member countries.

Anyway, it's a long discussion and explanation, and I make mistakes with explaining it ;) But you get the idea.

Now I just wish ADB releases their official statement, they're months overdue - twice!

Unknown said...

It's free to dream and it is nontaxable. And that will how the wish of a common ASEAN currency will ever be at least in the next 50-100 years. It took Europe give or take 50 years to develop the Euro given the pretty similar economies of the EU-member states. Having enormous difficulty in passing for a common ASEAN currency would be the understatement of the new century given the varying economies of the member-countries. You have wealthy Singapore, Brunei and Malaysia; Middle-class countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia and Poor countries such as Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. That's just not possible at the moment.

Well, if ever a common currency will come to pass (not in this lifetime): my vote would go for the ASEAN Dollar (abbreviated: ASD). It's uncomplicated, it's global and easy to understand.

Anonymous said...

I agree with the Asean Dollar but it lacks of individualism. It needs to be special like the Euro. For Ase, some crazy people would pronounce it as Ass or something. I can so predict it Lol

Laibeus Lord said...

Exactly, if we will have a single currency, it should be something we can identify ourselves.

Just look at the plans of the South African Union - AFRO. Not African Dollar or AFD.

European Union = Euro, not European Pounds.

And I doubt it will take us 100 years. I believe ASEAN can have a common currency in 35 years give or take.

Many experts have seen how ASEAN can fast-track "integrations" in our region because we have the European Union, the South African Union, and the South American Union to look at to and use as references and learning tools.

The EU took that long because they're the first. They have no one to look up to as a guide.

I will nominate "Asyan" as the name of our currency when that time comes, and I believe it will be in my lifetime ;) I'm only 26 :p

ASEAN's pronounced "ASEAN" as "Asyan" so "Asyan" is for me, the best choice.

Anonymous said...

Why not Pisanu for the Asean currency? And have his face on the bills lol

Anonymous said...

I think ASEA is a better name for a single monetary unit in Southeast Asia..>>>>>>>>>>

Anonymous said...

i'll go for 'asyan' too

Anonymous said...

Once again, I just want to give a suggestion to you Pisanu and team, you should change the picture of Cambodian Currency. what you post was the old one, ok? We need to be up-to-date, na!!!
And the currency for SE is "ASEAN", no need to chang to asyan, ASEA,... it dosen't make sense!!! Just call ASEAN if oneday, it really exists in the world....
<^_^>!!!

fish said...

The Burmese Kyat in black market (true representation of value) is 1130 Kyats to USD$1. Around 700 Kyats for SGD$1.

That makes Myanmar Kyat in 6th position of Asean currencies against US$, in true value.

according to wikipedia Myanmar Kyat.

Although Myanmar is overall less developed than Indo, Viet and Philipinnes, Myanmar Kyat has less inflation and in better standing (even in true value black market) against the US$.

blumage said...

Although i dream of a more unified ASEAN, and there's no better way to unify the region with a common currency. The harsh reality is that it will be impossible for the region to have a common currency. Like someone mentioned above our economies are too varied. The Euro took a lot of years into the making. Politicians in Europe did a lot of work to get to the EU and to think that European countries have a lot in common, more than we ASEAN's have. Integration in Europe was essential after all the wars that have torn the old continent. In ASEAN there's one big policy that is preventing us to form a trully regional bloc and it is the fact that no other ASEAN country can interfere with another country's internal affair. In mere words it is mind your own business.
Anyway the Euro was not introduced to all the EU members at once. Some didn't want the euro while some didn't meet the requirements. The process of a single currency in ASEAN will be much faster to realize having already the EURO as the model. We only need to modify the euro to suit ASEAN needs. A unified currency like the euro must have strict rules and requirements in order to for the countries to apply and to use such currency. Terms such as inflation less than a certain % and other economic terms hard to explain. ASEAN has already a bank (ADB) like Europe(ECE) which is already a big advantage. A common currency can also be a stimulus to certain countries to improve their economies in order not to be left out of the single market. As for the name we can have more than one name as well. the Euro is also called EYPO!!
Another interesting fact is that The french wanted the Euro to be called European Francs and it's thanks to the Germans that it's called Euro. ( no wonder that ECE is in Frankfurt). Anyway the euro will soon expand and open it's market to more countries as more EU countries become eligible to addopt it.

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Nico said...

LOL at 'dorky'. it's cute i must admit, but a bit, er, dorky.

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