This thesis studies the equilibrium real effective exchange rates and the degree of misalignment of currencies. It focuses on the real effective exchange rates of Icelandic króna and Chinese renminbi, with special attention paid to the evolution of these exchange rates in the period of crisis. It identifies key factors influencing the real effective exchange rates of króna and renminbi, calculates their equilibrium level and confirms that these currencies were misaligned in the pre-crisis period. It stresses the impact of real interest rate differential in the case of króna and of sterilization operations applied by the People's Bank of China in the case of renminbi. It further examines whether the relationship between real exchange rates and economic fundamentals was distorted in the crisis. Finally, the thesis provides an insight into whether the crisis led to narrowing the degree of misalignment of renminbi and króna.

The diploma work deals with the problems of financial crises, concretely with the Icelandic financial crisis in 2008. The main target of the work is to describe the course, the causes and the consequences of the financial crisis. The fundamental informations about the financial crises are summarized in the theoretical part. The descriptive part deals with the development of the icelandic economy before crisis and with the course of the financial crisis. The final part is devoted to the analysis of the icelandic financial crisis, for that is used the general model of systemic financial crises.