COMMERCIAL trade exchanges can facilitate both domestic and international trade. A trade exchange stimulates trade by brokering the members' merchandise, keeping account of members' transactions and trade balances and acting as a clearing house.

Similarly, central banks can use multilateral payment arrangements (MPA) to spur trade among member countries while significantly reducing the need for foreign exchange reserves. It would be even better if the MPA is gold-based, since central banks can leverage on their gold reserve holdings.

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