The inability to effectively hedge against unfavourable exchange rate movements, using the current forward exchange rate as the only guideline, is a key inhibiting factor of international trade. Market participants use the current forward exchange rate quoted in the market to make decisions regarding future exchange rate changes. However, the current forward exchange rate is not solely determined by the interaction of demand and supply, but is also a mechanistic estimation, which is based on the current spot exchange rate and the carry cost of the transaction. Results of various studies, including this study, demonstrated that the current forward exchange rate differs substantially from the realized future spot exchange rate. This phenomenon is known as the exchange rate puzzle. This study contributes to the dynamics of modelling exchange rate theories by developing an exchange rate model that has the ability to explain the realized future spot exchange rate and the exchange rate puzzle. The exchange rate model is based only on current (time t) economic fundamentals and includes an alternative approach of incorporating the impact of the interaction of two international financial markets into the model. This study derived a unique exchange rate model, which proves that the exchange rate puzzle is a pseudo problem. The pseudo problem is based on the generally excepted fallacy that current non–stationary, level time series data cannot be used to model exchange rate theories, because of the incorrect assumption that all the available econometric methods yield statistically insignificant results due to spurious regressions. Empirical evidence conclusively shows that using non–stationary, level time series data of current economic fundamentals can statistically significantly explain the realized future spot exchange rate and, therefore, that the exchange rate puzzle can be solved. This model will give market participants in the foreign exchange market a better indication of expected future exchange rates, which will considerably reduce the dependence on the mechanistically derived forward points. The newly derived exchange rate model will also have an influence on the demand and supply of forward exchange, resulting in forward points that are a more accurate prediction of the realized future exchange rate. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Risk management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The thesis investigates different exchange rate models and their forecasting performance. The work takes previous literature overview and summarize their findings. Despite the significant amount of papers which were done on the topic of exchange rate forecast, basically none of them cannot find an appropriate model which would outperform a forecast of a simple random walk in every horizon or for any currency pair. However, there are some positive findings in specific cases (e.g. for specific pair or for specific time horizon). The study provides up-to-date analysis of four exchange rates (USD/CZK, USD/ILS, USD/GBP and USD/EUR) for the period of time from January 2000 to August 2013 and analyse forecasting performance of seven exchange rate models (uncovered interest rate parity model, purchasing power parity model, monetary model, monetary model with error correction, Taylor rule model, hidden Markov model and ESTAR model). Although, the results are in advantage of Taylor rule model, especially for the exchange rate of USD/CZK, I cannot prove that the forecasting performance is significantly better than the random walk model. Except of the overall analysis, the work suppose instabilities in the time. Stock and Watson (2003) found that the forecast predictability is not stable over time. As a consequence, the econometric model can give us better forecast than random walk process at some period of time, however at other period, the forecasting ability can be worse than random walk. Based on Fluctuation test of Giacomini and Rossi (2010a) every model is analysed how the out-of-sample forecast ability changes over time.

This thesis provides a thorough analysis of the covered- and uncovered interest parity conditions (CIP, UIP) as well as the forward rate unbiasedness hypothesis (FRUH) for Sweden and the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). By studying data on interbank rates in Sweden (STIBOR) and the EMU (EURIBOR) as well as the corresponding spot- and forward exchange rates, monetary integration and country-specific risks are determined and analyzed with direct applications to the potential entry of Sweden into the EMU. As interest rate parity in general gives insight into market efficiency and frictions between the chosen regions, such points are discussed in addition to EMU entry. Drawing on past studies that mainly studied one condition in isolation, a nested formulation of interest rate parity is instead derived and tested using cointegration and robust estimation methods. The results point to a strict rejection of the FRUH for all horizons except the shortest and a case where CIP only holds for the 6-month horizon and partially over one year. This implies, based on the nested formulation, that UIP is rejected for all horizons as well. Ultimately, the study concludes that a Swedish entry into the EMU is not motivated given the lackluster results on UIP and due to the lack of monetary integration. / Den här uppsatsen presenterar en djupgående analys av det kurssäkrade- och icke-kurssäkrade ränteparitetsvillkoret samt den effektiva marknadshypotesen på valutaterminer för Sverige och den europeiska ekonomiska och monetära unionen (EMU). Genom att studera data på interbankräntor i Sverige (STIBOR) och EMU (EURIBOR) samt respektive spot- och valutaterminskurser så skattas och analyseras monetär integration samt landsspecifika risker med en direkt tillämpning på Sveriges eventuella inträde i EMU. Eftersom ränteparitet generellt ger insikt i marknadseffektivitet och friktioner regioner emellan, diskuteras även dessa punkter utöver ett eventuellt EMU-inträde. Genom att bygga på föregående studier som i huvudsak studerar ränteparitetsvillkoren var för sig, härleds en sekventiell formulering av villkoren som sedan testas med kointegration och robusta estimeringsmetoder. Resultaten ger att den effektiva marknadshypotesen strikt förkastas på alla tidshorisonter förutom på en dag respektive en vecka, samt att kurssäkrad ränteparitet håller på 6 och delvis 12 månaders sikt. Baserat på den sekventiella formuleringen så innebär detta att icke-kurssäkrad ränteparitet inte håller på någon tidshorisont. Slutligen, baserat på både resultat och diskussion, är ett svenskt inträde i EMU inte motiverbart givet negativa resultat för icke-kurssäkrad ränteparitet och avsaknaden av fullständig monetär integration mellan regionerna.