A currency union (also known as monetary union ) is an intergovernmental agreement that involves two or more states sharing the same currency . These states may not necessarily have any further integration (such as an economic and monetary union , which would have, in addition, a customs union and a single market ).
92-453: There are three types of currency unions: The theory of the optimal currency area addresses the question of how to determine what geographical regions should share a currency in order to maximize economic efficiency. Implementing a new currency in a country is always a controversial topic because it has both many advantages and disadvantages. New currency has different impacts on businesses and individuals, which creates more points of view on
184-633: A constitutional referendum in October resulted in a changed constitution that allowed him to run during the 2016 presidential election . He won the election believed by some to be fraudulent. After violent protests in the capital, Sassou attacked the Pool region where the Ninja rebels of the civil war used to be based, in what was believed to be a distraction. This led to a revival of the Ninja rebels who launched attacks against
276-763: A 3-year SDR 69.5m (US$ 100m) enhanced structural adjustment facility (ESAF) and was on the verge of announcing a renewed annual agreement when civil war broke out in Congo in 1997. Congo's democratic progress was derailed in 1997 when Lissouba and Sassou started to fight for power in the civil war . As presidential elections scheduled for July 1997 approached, tensions between the Lissouba and Sassou camps mounted. On 5 June, President Lissouba's government forces surrounded Sassou's compound in Brazzaville, and Sassou ordered members of his private militia (known as "Cobras") to resist. Thus began
368-558: A 4-month conflict that destroyed or damaged some of Brazzaville and caused tens of thousands of civilian deaths. In October, the Angolan government began an invasion of Congo to install Sassou in power and the Lissouba government fell. After that, Sassou declared himself president. In the elections in 2002 , Sassou won with almost 90% of the vote cast. His 2 main rivals, Lissouba and Bernard Kolelas, were prevented from competing. A remaining rival, André Milongo advised his supporters to boycott
460-454: A best estimate of 9%. The second counter-argument is that further goods market integration might also lead to more specialization in production. Once individual firms can easily serve the whole OCA market, and not just their national market, they will exploit economies of scale and concentrate production. Some sectors in the OCA might end up becoming concentrated in a few locations. The United States
552-478: A closer integration of capital markets. These economic arguments are supported by social arguments as well. On every occasion when a social disturbance leads to the threat of a strike, and the strike to an increase in wages unjustified by increases in productivity and thence to devaluation, the national currency becomes threatened. Long-run costs for the nation as a whole are bartered away by governments for what they presume to be short-run political benefits. If instead,
644-430: A currency area for all provinces except Alberta , which could benefit from having a separate currency. Europe exemplifies a situation unfavourable to a common currency. It is composed of separate nations, speaking different languages, with different customs, and having citizens feeling far greater loyalty and attachment to their own country than to a common market or to the idea of Europe. Milton Friedman There
736-697: A currency reunion of these countries might still be feasible based on the findings of economic convergence. [REDACTED] Benin [REDACTED] Burkina Faso [REDACTED] Côte d'Ivoire [REDACTED] Guinea-Bissau [REDACTED] Mali [REDACTED] Niger [REDACTED] Senegal [REDACTED] Togo Central African CFA franc users: [REDACTED] Cameroon [REDACTED] Central African Republic [REDACTED] Chad [REDACTED] Equatorial Guinea [REDACTED] Gabon [REDACTED] Republic of
828-679: A currency union. [REDACTED] Zimbabwe is theoretically in a currency union with four blocs as the South African rand, Botswana pula , British pound and US dollar freely circulate. The US Dollar was, until 2016, official tender. Additionally, the autonomous and dependent territories, such as some of the EU member state special territories , are sometimes treated as separate customs territory from their mainland state or have varying arrangements of formal or de facto customs union , common market and currency union (or combinations thereof) with
920-505: A distant prospect. Furthermore, the U.S. economy, with a central federal fiscal authority, has stabilization transfers. When a state in the U.S. is in recession, every $ 1 drop in that state’s GDP would have an offsetting transfer of 28 cents. Such stabilizing transfers are not present in both the Eurozone and EU; thus, they cannot rely on fiscal federalism to smooth out regional economic disturbances. The European crisis, however, may be pushing
1012-510: A government characterized by budget problems and "overstaffing". Petroleum extraction has supplanted forestry as the mainstay of the economy. In 2008, the oil sector accounted for 65% of the GDP , 85% of government revenue, and 92% of exports. The country has untapped mineral wealth. In the 1980s, rising oil revenues enabled the government to finance larger-scale development projects. GDP grew an average of 5% annually. The government has mortgaged
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#17328489221181104-764: A halt in June 1997 when civil war erupted. When Sassou Nguesso returned to power in October 1997, he publicly expressed interest in moving forward on economic reforms and privatization and in renewing cooperation with international financial institutions. Economic progress was "badly hurt" by slumping oil prices and the resumption of armed conflict in December 1998, which "worsened" the republic's budget deficit. The administration presides over an "uneasy internal peace" and faces "difficult" economic problems of stimulating recovery and reducing poverty, with record-high oil prices since 2003. Natural gas and diamonds are other exports, while Congo
1196-741: A local legislature after the adoption of the 1946 constitution that established the Fourth Republic . Following the revision of the French constitution that established the Fifth Republic in 1958, AEF dissolved into its constituent parts, each of which became an autonomous colony within the French Community . During these reforms, Middle Congo became known as the Republic of the Congo in 1958 and published its first constitution in 1959. Antagonism between
1288-419: A monetary union are not allowed to run sufficient deficits. The Post-Keynesian theory of Neo-Chartalism holds that government deficit spending creates money, that ability to print money is fundamental to a state's ability to command resources, and that "money and monetary policy are intricately linked to political sovereignty and fiscal authority". Both of these critiques consider the transactional benefits of
1380-563: A new investment code intended to attract foreign capital. The country also adopted a new investment code intended to attract foreign capital. Despite these success, Congo’s investment climate has challenges, offering few meaningful incentives for new investors. Economic reform efforts continued with the support of international organizations, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund . The reform program came to
1472-591: A portion of its petroleum earnings, contributing to a "shortage of revenues". On 12 January 1994, the devaluation of Franc Zone currencies by 50% resulted in an inflation of 46% in 1994, and inflation has subsided since. Between 1994-96, the economy underwent a difficult transition. The Congo took a number of measures to liberalize its economy, including reforming the tax, investment, labor, timber, and hydrocarbon codes. In 2002-03, Congo privatized parastatals, primarily banks, telecommunications, and transportation monopolies, to help improve and unreliable infrastructure. By
1564-583: A range of smaller parties. Sassou's regime has seen corruption revelations, with attempts to censor them. One French investigation found over 110 bank accounts and dozens of "lavish properties" in France. Sassou denounced embezzlement investigations as "racist" and "colonial". Denis Christel Sassou-Nguesso, son of Denis Sassou Nguesso, has been named in association with the Panama Papers . On 27 March 2015, Sassou Nguesso announced that his government would hold
1656-433: A referendum on changing the country's 2002 constitution to allow him to run for a third consecutive term in office. On 25 October, the government held a referendum on allowing Sassou Nguesso to run in the next election. The government claimed that the proposal was approved by 92% of voters, with 72% of eligible voters participating. The opposition who boycotted the referendum said that the government's statistics were false and
1748-613: A relationship some refer to as slavery. The Congolese Human Rights Observatory says that the Pygmies are treated as property in the same way as pets. On 30 December 2010, the Congolese parliament adopted a law to promote and protect the rights of indigenous peoples. This law is "the first" of its kind in Africa. The economy is a mixture of village agriculture and handicrafts, an industrial sector based mainly on petroleum , support services, and
1840-416: A shared currency to be minor compared to these drawbacks, and more generally place less emphasis on the transactional function of money (a medium of exchange ) and greater emphasis on its use as a unit of account . In Mundell’s first model, countries regard all of the conditions as given, and assuming they have adequate information, they can then judge whether the costs of forming a currency union outweigh
1932-563: A single Optimal Currency Area. However, he found the fit of the Southeast and Southwest to be questionable. He also found that the Plains would not fit into an optimal currency area. The notion of a currency that does not accord with a state, specifically one larger than a state – formally, of an international monetary authority without a corresponding fiscal authority – has been criticized by Keynesian and Post-Keynesian economists , who emphasize
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#17328489221182024-498: A speculative capital inflow in favor of the depreciating currency. Mundell's work can be cited on both sides of the debate about the euro. However, in 1973 Mundell himself constructed an argument on the basis of the second model that was more favorable to the concept of a (then-hypothetical) shared European currency. Rather than moving toward more flexibility in exchange rates within Europe the economic arguments suggest less flexibility and
2116-777: Is a country located on the western coast of Central Africa to the west of the Congo River . It is bordered to the west by Gabon , to the northwest by Cameroon , to the northeast by the Central African Republic , to the southeast by the Democratic Republic of the Congo , to the south by the Angolan exclave of Cabinda , and to the southwest by the Atlantic Ocean. The region was dominated by Bantu -speaking tribes at least 3,000 years ago, who built trade links leading into
2208-433: Is a geographical region in which it would maximize economic efficiency to have the entire region share a single currency. The underlying theory describes the optimal characteristics for the merger of currencies or the creation of a new currency . The theory is used often to argue whether or not a certain region is ready to become a currency union , one of the final stages in economic integration . An optimal currency area
2300-707: Is a good example: financial services are centered in New York City, entertainment in Los Angeles, and technology in Silicon Valley. If specialization increases, each country will be less diversified and will face more asymmetric shocks; weakening the case for the self-fulfilling OCA argument. Republic of the Congo Congo , officially the Republic of the Congo or Congo Republic , also known as Congo-Brazzaville ,
2392-487: Is dependent on the oil sector and economic growth has slowed since the post-2015 drop in oil prices . Christianity is the most widely professed faith in the country. According to the 2024 rendition of the World Happiness Report , the Republic of the Congo is ranked 89th among 140 nations. It is named after the Congo River whose name is derived from Kongo , a Bantu kingdom which occupied its mouth around
2484-796: Is from June to August, while in the majority of the country, the wet season has 2 rainfall maxima: 1 in March–May and another in September–November. In 2006–07, researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society studied gorillas in "heavily forested" regions centered on the Ouesso District of the Sangha Region . They suggest a population on the order of 125,000 western lowland gorillas whose isolation from humans has been mostly preserved by "inhospitable" swamps. The government of
2576-480: Is never complete labour mobility, even within single countries. How much is enough? My answer was that the advantages of a common currency in terms of information and transactions costs, etc., have to be enough to overcome any disadvantages arising from insufficient labour mobility. I argue that the gains from a common currency in Europe have been and are sufficient in the case of Europe. Robert Mundell OCA theory has been most frequently applied to discussions of
2668-445: Is often larger than a country. For instance, part of the rationale behind the creation of the euro is that the individual countries of Europe do not each form an optimal currency area, but that Europe as a whole does. The creation of the euro is often cited because it provides the most modern and largest-scale case study of an attempt to identify an optimum currency area, and provides a comparative before-and-after model by which to test
2760-413: The Congo River basin. From the 13th century the present day territory was dominated by a confederation led by Vungu which included Kakongo and Ngoyo . Loango emerged in the 16th century. In the late 19th century France colonised the region and incorporated it into French Equatorial Africa . The Republic of the Congo was established on 28 November 1958 and gained independence from France in 1960. It
2852-459: The Congo River . Massamba-Débat's regime invited some hundred Cuban army troops into the country to train his party's militia units. These troops helped his government survive a coup d'état in 1966 led by paratroopers loyal to future President Marien Ngouabi . Massamba-Débat's regime ended with a bloodless coup in September 1968 . Marien Ngouabi, who had participated in the coup, assumed
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2944-649: The Kongo , the Loango , and the Teke —built trade links leading into the Congo Basin . The Portuguese explorer , Diogo Cão reached the mouth of the Congo in 1484. Commercial relationships grew between the inland Bantu kingdoms and European merchants who traded in commodities, manufactured goods, and people captured and enslaved in the hinterlands . After centuries as a central hub for transatlantic trade, direct European colonization of
3036-830: The Mbochis (who favored Jacques Opangault ) and the Laris and Kongos (who favored Fulbert Youlou , the first black mayor elected in French Equatorial Africa) resulted in a series of riots in Brazzaville in February 1959, which the French Army subdued. Elections took place in April 1959. By the time the Congo became independent in August 1960, Opangault, the former opponent of Youlou, agreed to serve under him. Youlou, an avid anti-communist, became
3128-581: The Nazi occupation of France during World War II , Brazzaville functioned as the symbolic capital of Free France between 1940 and 1943. The Brazzaville Conference of 1944 heralded a period of reform in French colonial policy. Congo "benefited" from the postwar expansion of colonial administrative and infrastructure spending as a result of its central geographic location within AEF and the federal capital at Brazzaville. It had
3220-732: The Parliamentary Research Branch discussed the pros and cons of Canada adopting the American dollar. While it made no judgment on the long term political desirability of a monetary union between Canada and the United States, it stated flatly that, at that time, Canada and the United did not share the free movement of labor and capital nor a common business cycle (Canada's being tied to resource prices ) and thus did not satisfy OCA theory. A 2016 paper argued that Canada itself worked well as
3312-578: The euro and the European Union . Many have argued that the EU did not actually meet the criteria for an OCA at the time the euro was adopted, and attribute the Eurozone 's economic difficulties in part to continued failure to do so. Europe does indeed score well on some of the measures characterising an OCA (such as symmetry of shocks). Poloz (1990) concluded that a European Monetary Union should be viable since
3404-699: The 1-party state. Following the presidential elections, fighting restarted in the Pool region between government forces and rebels led by Pastor Ntumi ; a peace treaty to end the conflict was signed in April 2003. Sassou won the following presidential election in July 2009 . According to the Congolese Observatory of Human Rights, a non-governmental organization, the election was marked by "very low" turnout and "fraud and irregularities". In March 2015, Sassou announced that he wanted to run for yet another term in office and
3496-643: The 19th century. The German Zollverein came into existence in 1834, and by 1866, it included most of the German states. The fragmented states of the German Confederation agreed on common policies to increase trade and political unity. The Latin Monetary Union , comprising France, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, and Greece, existed between 1865 and 1927, with coinage made of gold and silver . Coins of each country were legal tender and freely interchangeable across
3588-402: The Congo [REDACTED] New Caledonia [REDACTED] Wallis and Futuna [REDACTED] Antigua and Barbuda [REDACTED] Dominica [REDACTED] Grenada [REDACTED] Montserrat [REDACTED] Saint Kitts and Nevis [REDACTED] Saint Lucia [REDACTED] Saint Vincent and
3680-707: The Congo River delta began in the 19th century, subsequently eroding the power of the Bantu societies in the region. The area north of the Congo River came under French sovereignty in 1880 as a result of Pierre de Brazza 's treaty with King Makoko of the Bateke . After the death of Makoko, his widow Queen Ngalifourou upheld the terms of the treaty and became an ally to the colonizers. This Congo Colony became known first as French Congo , then as Middle Congo in 1903. In 1908, France organized French Equatorial Africa (AEF), comprising
3772-690: The Congo is a member of the African Union , the United Nations , La Francophonie , the Economic Community of Central African States , and the Non-Aligned Movement . It has become the 4th-largest oil producer in the Gulf of Guinea , providing the country with a degree of prosperity, with political and economic instability in some areas, and unequal distribution of oil revenue nationwide. Its economy
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3864-466: The EU towards more federal powers in fiscal policy. Michael Kouparitsas ( Chicago Fed ) considered the United States as divided into the eight regions of the Bureau of Economic Analysis , (Far West, Rocky Mountain, Plains, Great Lakes, Mideast, New England, Southwest, and Southeast). By developing a statistical model, he found that five of the eight regions of the country satisfied Mundell's criteria to form
3956-575: The European System of Central Banks. The Governing Board consists of the Executive Committee of the ECB and the governors of individual national banks, and determines the monetary policy, as well as short-term monetary objectives, key interest rates and the extent of monetary reserves. Optimal currency area In economics , an optimum currency area ( OCA ) or optimal currency region ( OCR )
4048-508: The European currencies were bound together disturbances in the country would be cushioned, with the shock weakened by capital movements. A review of the literature published for the Bank of Canada in 1999 cited dozens of studies on various aspects of OCA theory with special attention to whether Canada and the United States could form one. It made no conclusion on the topic. Likewise, a 1999 report for
4140-2139: The Grenadines [REDACTED] Austria [REDACTED] Belgium [REDACTED] Croatia [REDACTED] Cyprus [REDACTED] Estonia [REDACTED] Finland [REDACTED] France [REDACTED] Germany [REDACTED] Greece [REDACTED] Ireland [REDACTED] Italy [REDACTED] Latvia [REDACTED] Lithuania [REDACTED] Luxembourg [REDACTED] Malta [REDACTED] Netherlands [REDACTED] Portugal [REDACTED] Slovakia [REDACTED] Slovenia [REDACTED] Spain and EU special territories : [REDACTED] French Southern and Antarctic Lands [REDACTED] Saint Barthélemy [REDACTED] Saint Pierre and Miquelon [REDACTED] Akrotiri and Dhekelia [REDACTED] Andorra [REDACTED] Kosovo [REDACTED] Monaco [REDACTED] Montenegro [REDACTED] San Marino [REDACTED] Vatican City Brunei dollar [REDACTED] Singapore and external territories : [REDACTED] Ashmore and Cartier Islands [REDACTED] Australian Antarctic Territory [REDACTED] Christmas Island [REDACTED] Cocos (Keeling) Islands [REDACTED] Coral Sea Islands Territory [REDACTED] Heard Island and McDonald Islands [REDACTED] Norfolk Island [REDACTED] Kiribati [REDACTED] Nauru [REDACTED] Tuvalu and Overseas Territories : [REDACTED] British Antarctic Territory [REDACTED] British Indian Ocean Territory [REDACTED] Falkland Islands [REDACTED] Gibraltar [REDACTED] Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha [REDACTED] South Georgia and
4232-529: The Middle Congo, Gabon , Chad , and Oubangui-Chari (which later became the Central African Republic ). The French designated Brazzaville as the federal capital. Economic development during the first 50 years of colonial rule in Congo centered on natural resource extraction. Construction of the Congo–Ocean Railway following World War I has been estimated to have cost at least 14,000 lives. During
4324-540: The OCA and will be felt more symmetrically. However, caution should be employed when analysing the self-fulfilling argument. Firstly, the self-fulfilling effect's impact may not be significant. According to a recent study by Richard Baldwin, a trade economist at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, the boost to trade within the Eurozone from the single currency is much smaller: between 5% and 15%, with
4416-635: The Party (CMP) was then named to head an interim government, with Joachim Yhombi-Opango serving as president. Two years later, Yhombi-Opango was forced from power, and Denis Sassou Nguesso became the new president. Sassou Nguesso aligned the country with the Eastern Bloc and signed a 20-year friendship pact with the Soviet Union. Over the years, Sassou had to rely more on political repression and less on patronage to maintain his dictatorship. The collapse of
4508-626: The Republic is a semi-presidential system with an elected president who appoints the Council of Ministers, or Cabinet . The council, including the Prime Minister, is selected from the elected representatives in Parliament. Since the 1990s, the country has had a multi-party political system which is dominated by President Denis Sassou Nguesso . Sassou Nguesso is backed by his own Congolese Labour Party ( French : Parti Congolais du Travail ) as well as
4600-543: The Republic of the Congo grew by 6% in 2014 and is expected to have grown by 7.5% in 2015. In 2018, the Republic of the Congo joined the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries . Congo–Ocean Railway was built by forced laborers during the 1930s. Some colonial architectural heritage is preserved. Restoration of architectural works is underway in Brazzaville, for example, at the Basilica of Sainte-Anne du Congo, which
4692-1753: The South Sandwich Islands and Crown Dependencies : [REDACTED] Bailiwick of Guernsey [REDACTED] Bailiwick of Jersey [REDACTED] Isle of Man [REDACTED] Bhutan [REDACTED] Nepal Nepal minor usage and Realm : [REDACTED] Cook Islands [REDACTED] Niue [REDACTED] Tokelau [REDACTED] Pitcairn Islands [REDACTED] Palestine [REDACTED] Palestine ( West Bank only) [REDACTED] Abkhazia [REDACTED] South Ossetia [REDACTED] Namibia [REDACTED] South Africa [REDACTED] Eswatini [REDACTED] Switzerland [REDACTED] Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and insular areas : [REDACTED] American Samoa [REDACTED] Guam [REDACTED] United States Minor Outlying Islands [REDACTED] Northern Mariana Islands [REDACTED] Puerto Rico [REDACTED] United States Virgin Islands and Compact of Free Association members : [REDACTED] Marshall Islands [REDACTED] Federated States of Micronesia [REDACTED] Palau [REDACTED] Ecuador [REDACTED] El Salvador [REDACTED] Panama [REDACTED] Timor-Leste [REDACTED] Turks and Caicos Islands [REDACTED] British Virgin Islands [REDACTED] BES islands (Panama only) Note: Every customs and monetary union and economic and monetary union also has
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#17328489221184784-411: The Soviet Union in 1991 resulted in the ending of Soviet aid to prop up the regime, and it abdicated power. Pascal Lissouba who became Congo's first elected president (1992–1997) during the period of multi-party democracy attempted to implement economic reforms with IMF backing to liberalize the economy. In the years 1993 and 1994 the first Congo Civil War in Congo occurred. In June 1996, IMF approved
4876-468: The United States, possibly due to language and cultural differences. In O'Rourke's paper, more than 40% of U.S. residents were born outside the state in which they live. In the Eurozone, only 14% people were born in a different country than the one in which they live. In fact, the U.S. economy was approaching a single labor market in the nineteenth century. However, for most parts of the Eurozone, such levels of labour mobility and labor market integration remain
4968-410: The area. The union's success made other states join informally. The Scandinavian Monetary Union , comprising Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, existed between 1873 and 1905 and used a currency based on gold. The system was dissolved by Sweden in 1924. A currency union among the British colonies and protectorates in Southeast Asia, namely the Federation of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak, Singapore and Brunei
5060-399: The army in April 2016, leading 80,000 people to flee their homes. A ceasefire deal was signed in December 2017. In 2023, the Forest Massif of Odzala-Kokoua , for its savanna ecosystems and post-glacial recolonisation of forests, was listed as a natural UNESCO World Heritage Site . Natural landscapes range from the savanna plains in the North Niari flooded forests, to the Congo River, to
5152-473: The benefits. However, another school of thought argues that some of the OCA criteria are not given and fixed, but rather they are economic outcomes (i.e., endogenous) determined by the creation of the currency union itself. Consider goods market interaction as an example: if the OCA criteria were applied before the currency union forms, then many countries might exhibit low trade volumes and low market integration; which means that OCA criteria are not met. Thus,
5244-414: The colony's founder, Pierre Savorgnan de Brazzà , an Italian nobleman whose title referred to the town of Brazzacco, in the Italian comune of Moruzzo in Friuli Venezia Giulia , whose name derived from the Latin Brattius or Braccius , both meaning literally " arm ". Bantu-speaking peoples who founded tribes during the Bantu expansions , mostly displaced and absorbed the earlier inhabitants of
5336-402: The country and installed a civilian provisional government headed by Alphonse Massamba-Débat . Under the 1963 constitution, Massamba-Débat was elected president for a five-year term. During Massamba-Débat's term in office , the regime adopted " scientific socialism " as the country's constitutional ideology. In 1964, Congo sent an official team with a single athlete at the Olympic Games for
5428-406: The country is located on the Equator, the climate is more consistent year-round, with the average day temperature a humid 24 °C (75 °F) and nights generally between 16 °C (61 °F) and 21 °C (70 °F). The average yearly rainfall ranges from 1,100 millimetres (43 in) in the Niari Valley in the south to over 2,000 millimetres (79 in) in central parts. The dry season
5520-429: The country. The Kongo are the largest ethnic group and form roughly half of the population. The most significant subgroups of the Kongo are Laari , in Brazzaville and Pool regions, and the Vili , around Pointe-Noire and along the Atlantic coast. The second largest group is the Teke , who live to the north of Brazzaville, with 16.9% of the population. Mbochi live in the north, east and in Brazzaville and form 13.1% of
5612-484: The currency union might not be formed based on those current characteristics. However, if the currency union was established anyway, its member-states would trade so much more that, in the end, the OCA criteria would be met. This logic suggests that the OCA criteria can be self-fulfilling. Furthermore, greater integration under the OCA project might also improve other OCA criteria. For example, if goods markets are better connected, shocks will be more rapidly transmitted within
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#17328489221185704-406: The elections and then withdrew from the race. A constitution , agreed upon by referendum in January 2002 , granted the president new powers, extended his term to 7 years and introduced a new bicameral assembly. International observers took issue with the organization of the presidential election and the constitutional referendum, both of which were reminiscent in their organization of Congo's era of
5796-488: The end of 1996 Congo had made progress in various areas targeted for reform. It made great strides toward macroeconomic stabilization through improving public finances and restructuring external debt. This change was accompanied by improvements in the structure of expenditures, with a reduction in personnel expenditures. Before June 1997, Congo and the United States ratified a bilateral investment treaty designed to facilitate and protect foreign investment. The country also adopted
5888-410: The first President of the Republic of the Congo. Since the political tension was so high in Pointe-Noire , Youlou moved the capital to Brazzaville. The Republic of the Congo became fully independent from France on 15 August 1960. Youlou ruled as the country's first president until labor elements and rival political parties instigated a 3-day uprising that ousted him. The Congolese military took over
5980-534: The first time in its history. In 1965, Congo established relations with the Soviet Union , the People's Republic of China , North Korea , and North Vietnam . Under his presidency, the Congo began to industrialize . Some large production units with large workforces were built: the textile factory of Kinsoundi, the palm groves of Etoumbi, the match factory of Bétou , the shipyards of Yoro, etc. Health centers were created as well as school groups (colleges and elementary school). The country's school enrollment rate became
6072-407: The global monetary policy (interest rates) will not be fine tuned for the particular situation of each constituent region. The four often cited criteria for a successful currency union are: Additional criteria suggested are: Here Mundell tries to model how exchange rate uncertainty will interfere with the economy; this model is less often cited. Supposing that the currency is managed properly,
6164-436: The government for support and subsistence. Before the 1997 war, about 9,000 Europeans and other non-Africans lived in Congo, most of whom were French ; a fraction of this number remains. Around 300 American immigrants reside in the Congo. According to a 2011–12 survey, the total fertility rate was 5.1 children born per woman, with 4.5 in urban areas and 6.5 in rural areas. Ethnologue recognizes 62 spoken languages in
6256-435: The highest in Black Africa. On the night of February 14 to 15, 1965, 3 public officials of the Republic of the Congo were kidnapped: Lazare Matsocota [ fr ] (prosecutor of the Republic), Joseph Pouabou [ fr ] (President of the Supreme Court), and Anselme Massouémé [ fr ] (director of the Congolese Information Agency). The bodies of 2 of these men were later found, mutilated, by
6348-416: The idea, but others point to earlier work done in the area by Abba Lerner . Kenen (1969) and McKinnon (1963) were further developers of this idea. Published by Mundell in 1961, this is the most cited by economists. Here asymmetric shocks are considered to undermine the real economy, so if they are too important and cannot be controlled, a regime with floating exchange rates is considered better, because
6440-415: The individual regions, since the devaluation will reduce its buying power. So despite a less fine tuned monetary policy the real economy should do better. A harvest failure , strikes , or war, in one of the countries causes a loss of real income, but the use of a common currency (or foreign exchange reserves) allows the country to run down its currency holdings and cushion the impact of the loss, drawing on
6532-409: The larger the area, the better. In contrast with the previous model, asymmetric shocks are not considered to undermine the common currency because of the existence of the common currency. This spreads the shocks in the area because all regions share claims on each other in the same currency and can use them for dampening the shock, while in a flexible exchange rate regime, the cost will be concentrated on
6624-511: The mainland and in regards to third countries through the trade pacts signed by the mainland state. The European currency union is a part of the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union (EMU). EMU was formed during the second half of the 20th century after historic agreements, such as Treaty of Paris (1951) , Maastricht Treaty (1992). In 2002, the euro , a single European currency,
6716-739: The north, and Cabinda ( Angola ) to the southwest. It has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean. The southwest is a coastal plain for which the primary drainage is the Kouilou-Niari River ; the interior of the country consists of a central plateau between 2 basins to the south and north. Forests are under increasing exploitation pressure. Congo had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 8.89/10, ranking it 12th globally out of 172 countries. Congo lies within 4 terrestrial ecoregions: Atlantic Equatorial coastal forests , Northwestern Congolian lowland forests , Western Congolian swamp forests , and Western Congolian forest–savanna mosaic . Since
6808-437: The oldest and most powerful, which likely included Nsundi , Mbata , Mpangu , and possibly Kundi and Okanga . South of these was Mpemba which stretched from modern-day Angola to the Congo River . It included various kingdoms such as Mpemba Kasi and Vunda . To its west across the Congo River was a confederation of three small states; Vungu (its leader), Kakongo , and Ngoyo . Some Bantu kingdoms—including those of
6900-496: The population. Pygmies make up 2% of Congo's population. Religion in the Republic of the Congo by the Association of Religion Data Archives (2015) According to CIA World Factbook, the people of the Republic of the Congo are largely a mix of Catholics (33.1%), Awakening Lutherans (22.3%), and other Protestants (19.9%) as of 2007. Followers of Islam make up 1.6%; this is primarily due to an influx of foreign workers into
6992-643: The presidency on 31 December 1968. One year later, Ngouabi proclaimed the Congo Africa's first "people's republic", the People's Republic of the Congo , and announced the decision of the National Revolutionary Movement to change its name to the Congolese Labour Party (PCT). He survived an attempted coup in 1972 and was assassinated on 18 March 1977. An 11-member Military Committee of
7084-416: The principles of the theory. In theory, an optimal currency area could also be smaller than a country. Some economists have argued that the United States, for example, has some regions that do not fit into an optimal currency area with the rest of the country. The theory of the optimal currency area was pioneered in the 1960s by economist Robert Mundell . Credit often goes to Mundell as the originator of
7176-601: The region, the Pygmy people, about 1500 BC. The Bakongo , a Bantu ethnic group that occupied parts of what later became Angola, Gabon, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formed the basis for ethnic affinities and rivalries among those countries. By the 13th century, there were three main confederations of states in the western Congo Basin. In the east were the Seven Kingdoms of Kongo dia Nlaza , considered to be
7268-406: The resources of the other country until the cost of the adjustment has been efficiently spread over the future. If, on the other hand, the two countries use separate monies with flexible exchange rates, the whole loss has to be borne alone; the common currency cannot serve as a shock absorber for the nation as a whole except insofar as the dumping of inconvertible currencies on foreign markets attracts
7360-442: The role of deficit spending by a government (formally, fiscal authority) in the running of an economy, and consider using an international currency without fiscal authority to be a loss of "monetary sovereignty". Specifically, Keynesian economists argue that fiscal stimulus in the form of deficit spending is the most powerful method of fighting unemployment during a liquidity trap . Such stimulus may not be possible if states in
7452-525: The rugged mountains and forests of Mayombe , and 170 km of beaches along the Atlantic coast. Congo is located in the central-western part of sub-Saharan Africa , along the Equator , lying between latitudes 4°N and 5°S , and longitudes 11° and 19°E . To the south and east of it is the Democratic Republic of the Congo . It is bounded by Gabon to the west, Cameroon and the Central African Republic to
7544-454: The same or at least very similar goals. The European Monetary Union (EMU) is a contemporary model for forming currency unions. Membership in the EMU requires that countries follow a strictly defined set of criteria (the member states are required to have a specific rate of inflation, government deficit , government debt , long-term interest rates and exchange rate ). Many other unions have adopted
7636-621: The time the Portuguese first arrived in 1483 or 1484. The kingdom's name derived from its people, the Bakongo , an endonym said to mean "hunters" ( Kongo : mukongo , nkongo ). During the period when France colonised it, it was known as the French Congo or Middle Congo . The Republic of the Congo , or simply Congo , is a distinct country from the Democratic Republic of the Congo , also known as DR Congo . Brazzaville 's name derives from
7728-427: The usefulness of currency unions. As a consequence, governmental institutions often struggle when they try to implement a new currency, for example by entering a currency union. Convergence in terms of macroeconomics means that countries have a similar economic behaviour (similar inflation rates and economic growth ). It is easier to form a currency union for countries with more convergence as these countries have
7820-476: The variability of real exchange rates in Europe was similar to that between Canadian regions .This work was cited by the European Commission itself in the 1990 report One Market, One Money . By looking at the correlation of a region's GDP growth rate with that of the entire zone, the Eurozone countries show slightly greater correlations compared to the U.S. states. However, it has lower labour mobility than
7912-440: The view that convergence is necessary, so they now follow similar rules to aim the same direction. Divergence is the exact opposite of convergence. Countries with different goals are very difficult to integrate in a single currency union. Their economic behaviour is completely different, which may lead to disagreements. Divergence is therefore not optimal for forming a currency union. The first currency unions were established in
8004-421: The vote was a fake one. The election raised questions and was accompanied by civil unrest and police shootings of protesters; at least 18 people were killed by security forces during opposition rallies leading up to the referendum held in October. It is divided into 12 départements (departments). Departments are divided into communes and districts. These are: Some Pygmies belong from birth to Bantus in
8096-462: Was a Marxist–Leninist state from 1969 to 1992, under the name People's Republic of the Congo (PRC). The country has had multi-party elections since 1992, but a democratically elected government was ousted in the 1997 Republic of the Congo Civil War . President Denis Sassou Nguesso , who first came to power in 1979, ruled until 1992 and then again since after his reinstatement. The Republic of
8188-491: Was adopted by 12 member states. Currently, the Eurozone has 20 member states. The other members of the European Union are required to adopt the euro as their currency (except for Denmark, which has been given the right to opt out), but there has not been a specific date set. The main independent institution responsible for stability of the euro is the European Central Bank (ECB). Together with 15 national banks it forms
8280-532: Was completed in 2011. Its population is concentrated in the southwestern portion, leaving the areas of tropical jungle in the north virtually uninhabited. 70% of its total population lives in urban areas, namely in Brazzaville , Pointe-Noire , or one of the cities or villages lining the 534-kilometre (332 mi), railway which connects the two cities. In rural areas, industrial and commercial activity has declined in some years, leaving rural economies dependent on
8372-457: Was established in 1952. The Malaya and British Borneo dollar, the common currency for circulation was issued by the Board of Commissioners of Currency, Malaya and British Borneo from 1953 until 1967. Following the cessation of the common currency arrangement, Malaysia (the combination of Federation of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak), Singapore and Brunei began issuing their own currencies. Contemporarily,
8464-695: Was excluded from the Kimberley Process in 2004 amid allegations that most of its diamond exports were, in fact, being smuggled out of the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo ; it was re-admitted to the group in 2007. The Republic of the Congo has untapped base metal, gold, iron, and phosphate deposits. It is a member of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA). The Congolese government signed an agreement in 2009 to lease 200,000 hectares of land to South African farmers to reduce its dependence on imports. The GDP of
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