Monetary apartheid?

Urjit Patel's argument on currency swaps should be heard

Speaking in Washington DC at a seminar organised by the Group of 30 developing nations, Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel outlined a new and persuasive case as to how the self-interest of developed-country central banks led to monetary instability in emerging markets. Mr Patel’s language was calculated to make an impression: He said that “some of us would go as far as describing this situation as virtual apartheid, in which systemic central banks protect themselves and their self-interest”. His statement is likely to cause many to look again at the system of currency swaps, which he decried as