Fear of appreciation in East and Southeast Asia: The role of the Chinese renminbi

► Asian economies tend to be characterized by a greater aversion to appreciation, or more commonly known as fear of appreciation. ► There is a greater heightened fear of appreciation against the renminbi than against the US dollar, and much more so in the cases of the Philippine peso and the Thai baht. ► Our finding lends further support to the argument that the exchange rate policy of China is a major driver of the overall fear of appreciation behavior in Asia.