One of the most controversial issues in the aftermath of
the Asian financial crisis has been the appropriate response of
monetary policy to a sharp decline in the value of some currencies.
In this paper, we empirically examine the effects on Asian
exchange rates of sharply higher interest rates during the Asian
financial crisis. Taking account of the currency contagion effect,
our results indicate that sharply higher interest
rates helped to support the exchange rates of South Korea,
the Philippines, and Thailand. For Malaysia, no significant causal
relation is found from the rate of interest to exchange rates,
as the authorities in Malaysia did not actively adopt a high interest
rate policy to defend the currency.