1. South–South Regional Financial Arrangements in the Twenty-First Century—Promise and Potential

As the world comes to grips with the devastating economic and public health consequences of the COVID-19 Coronavirus, Southern-led alternative institutions for finance and development seem more important than ever. This volume 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 it has moreover not stopped; 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. This 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, the better known short-term liquidity mechanisms that pool foreign exchange reserves or serve as multilateralized swap arrangements that can provide countercyclical finance or liquidity to member countries, oftentimes more quickly and more generously than the International Monetary Fund (IMF).