1. And in the end, the Thai government spent itself almost into bankruptcy defending its currency, the baht, against a concerted attack by speculators. 2. Any rise in U.S. rates often forces the Bank of Mexico to raise local rates to boost investor appetites for Mexican securities and to defend the currency. 3. Argentina does not need to defend its currency, Fernandez said. 4. Argentina defended its currency following the Mexican peso crash by borrowing money from the IMF and putting its own reserves to work. 5. Argentina, in contrast to Mexico, has a hefty pool of foreign reserves to cover its current-account deficit and defend its currency. 6. As the Hong Kong government raised interest rates to defend its currency, the higher borrowing costs sent Hong Kong stocks plummeting. 7. At first Asian governments defended their currencies by using dollar reserves to buy them back on world currency markets. 8. Asian countries that raise their interest rates to defend their currencies will reduce domestic demand and produce goods for export to the U.S. that can be sold more cheaply. 9. Asian markets have been battered since this summer as interest rates soared as government sought to defend their currencies against speculative attacks. 10. Australian stocks also rose on concerns that interest rates may have to be jacked up to defend the currency. |