This adds to a general lack of confidence in the local currency caused by memories of its depreciation during the economic crisis of 2001.

BBC: Paypal suspends domestic transactions in Argentina

After a year of imprudent policies coupled with low world prices for the country's staple exports (bananas, coffee and sugar), Mr Arzu will leave Guatemala with high fiscal and current-account deficits, slowing economic growth, a sharp depreciation in the quetzal, weak banks and depleted reserves.

ECONOMIST: Guatemala��s democracy of chickens, rabbits��and locals

What if the Beijing authorities decided that, in order to generate their targeted 8% economic growth, a bit of depreciation was required?

ECONOMIST: The terrible temptation to depreciate

Initially it prescribed its usual medicine of tough budget tightening but backed off quickly after recognizing that the policy was accentuating the drastic drop in economic output caused by the battering sharp currency depreciation had delivered to the balance sheets of companies and banks that had borrowed abroad.

WSJ: It Pays to Be Flexible in Euro-Crisis Fight

Yet another Lindsey head-scratcher: Your chief economic adviser is just now discovering, in 2001, that depreciation schedules for software and computers are too long.

FORBES: Digital Rules

Newly installed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has made the depreciation of the currency one of the centerpieces of his controversial economic program, so there are expectations of aggressive tactics from the Bank of Japan, especially now that Masaaki Shirakawa announced on Tuesday his intention to step down early as its governor.

FORBES: Asian Currencies Tumble. Yes, This Is A Global Currency War.