Showing papers on "Foreign-exchange reserves published in 2013"

External Liabilities and Crises

Abstract: We examine the determinants of external crises, focusing on the role of foreign liabilities and their composition. Using a variety of statistical tools and comprehensive data spanning 1970-2011, we find that the ratio of net foreign liabilities (NFL) to GDP is a significant crisis predictor, and the more so when it exceeds 50 percent in absolute terms and 20 percent of the country-specific historical mean. This is primarily due to net external debt--the effect of net equity liabilities is weaker and net FDI liabilities seem if anything an offset factor. We also find that: i) breaking down net external debt into its gross asset and liability counterparts does not add significant explanatory power to crisis prediction; ii) the current account is a powerful predictor, either measured unconditionally or as deviations from conventionally estimated “norms”; iii) foreign exchange reserves reduce the likelihood of crisis more than other foreign asset holdings; iv) a parsimonious probit containing those and a handful of other variables has good predictive performance in- and out-of-sample. The latter result stems largely from our focus on external crises stricto sensu.

The "Impossible Trinity" Hypothesis in an Era of Global Imbalances: Measurement and Testing

Abstract: We outline new metrics for measuring the trilemma aspects: exchange rate flexibility, monetary independence, and capital account openness, taking into account recent substantial international reserve accumulation. Since 2000, the trilemma variables in emerging markets have converged towards intermediate levels, characterizing by managed flexibility, using sizable international reserves as a buffer while retaining some degree of monetary autonomy. We test the linearity of the trilemma, and find that the weighted sum of the three trilemma variables adds up to a constant. Thus, a rise in one trilemma variable should be traded-off with a drop of the weighted sum of the other two.

Currency crisis and collapse in interwar Greece: predicament or policy failure?

Abstract: Greece in 1928 viewed the anchoring to the Gold Exchange Standard as the imperative choice of the time in order to implant financial credibility and carry over an ambitious plan of reforms to modernise the economy. But after the pound sterling exited the system in 1931, Greece, instead of following suit, chose a defence that drove interest rates at high levels, squeezed the real economy and exhausted foreign reserves. Unable to borrow from abroad, it quitted the system in 1932 and the Drachma was heavily devalued. Despite a rise in competitiveness, the erosion of real incomes cut domestic demand, unemployment continued to rise and the country entered a period of acute social and political instability. The lessons are perhaps relevant today for the costs that Greece would face by exiting the Eurozone. A model of Balance of Payments crises with partial capital controls is employed to analyze the response of currency pegs to external shocks and examine under which circumstances the regime collapses. Its main predictions are found to be in agreement with the actual outcomes in 1932.

External Liabilities and Crises

Abstract: We examine the determinants of external crises, focusing on the role of foreign liabilities and their composition. Using a variety of statistical tools and comprehensive data spanning 1970-2011, we find that the ratio of net foreign liabilities (NFL) to GDP is a significant crisis predictor, and the more so when it exceeds 50 percent in absolute terms and 20 percent of the country-specific historical mean. This is primarily due to net external debt--the effect of net equity liabilities is weaker and net FDI liabilities seem if anything an offset factor. We also find that: i) breaking down net external debt into its gross asset and liability counterparts does not add significant explanatory power to crisis prediction; ii) the current account is a powerful predictor, either measured unconditionally or as deviations from conventionally estimated “norms” iii) foreign exchange reserves reduce the likelihood of crisis more than other foreign asset holdings; iv) a parsimonious probit containing those and a handful of other variables has good predictive performance in- and out-of-sample. The latter result stems largely from our focus on external crises stricto sensu.

Do Sales of Foreign Exchange Reserves Lead to Currency Appreciation

Abstract: We employ novel time-stamped reserve sales data, provided by the Czech National Bank (CNB), to carry out a time-series analysis of the exchange rate implications of Czech reserve sales aimed at mitigating valuation losses on Euro-denominated assets. The sales were explicitly not intended to influence the value of the koruna relative to the euro. The period under study includes a well-defined regime change in the CNB's approach to reserves sales, allowing us to address whether the manner in which the sales are carried out matters for their influence on the relative value of the domestic currency. We find little evidence that reserve sales influence the exchange rate when sales are carried out on a discretionary and relatively infrequent basis. However, when the sales are carried out daily, we find a statistically and economically significant appreciation of the domestic currency follows.

Risk-On/Risk-Off, Capital Flows, Leverage and Safe Assets

Abstract: This paper describes the international flow of funds associated with calm and volatile global equity markets. During calm periods, portfolio investment by real money and leveraged investors in advanced countries flows into emerging markets. When central banks in the receiving countries resist exchange rate appreciation and buy dollars against domestic currency, they end up investing in medium-term bonds in reserve currencies. In the process they fund themselves (or “sterilize” the expansion of local bank reserves) by issuing safe assets in domestic currency to domestic investors. Thus, calm periods, marked by leveraged investing in emerging markets, lead to an asymmetric asset swap (risky emerging market assets against safe reserve currency assets) and leveraging up by emerging market central banks. In declining and volatile global equity markets, these flows reverse, and, contrary to some claims, emerging market central banks draw down reserves substantially. In effect, emerging market central banks then release safe assets from their reserves, supplying safe havens to global investors.

The U.S. Dollar Safety Premium

Abstract: I show that the US dollar earns a safety premium versus a basket of foreign currencies and that this premium is particularly high in times of global financial stress. These findings support the view that the dollar acts as the reserve currency for the international monetary system and that it is a natural safe haven in times of crisis, when a global flight to quality toward the reserve currency takes place. During such episodes, investors are willing to earn negative expected returns as compensation for holding safe dollars. I estimate the time varying dollar safety premium by using instrumental variable techniques to condition information down.

Market Volatility and Foreign Exchange Intervention in EMEs: What Has Changed? - An Overview

Abstract: Over the past five years, huge swings in capital flows to and from emerging market economies (EMEs) have led many countries to re-examine their foreign exchange market intervention strategies. Quite unlike their experiences in the early 2000s, several countries that had at different times resisted appreciation pressures suddenly found themselves having to intervene against strong depreciation pressures. The sharp rise in the US long-term interest rate from May to August 2013 led to heavy pressures in currency markets. Several EMEs sold large amounts of forex reserves, raised interest rates and – equally important – provided the private sector with insurance against exchange rate risks. This volume, summarising the discussion and papers presented at the meeting of Deputy Governors of major EMEs in Basel on 21 – 22 February 2013, focuses on three main questions concerning foreign exchange intervention. First, what is the role of a flexible exchange rate in stabilising the economy and promoting financial stability and development? Second, how have the motives and strategy behind the interventions changed since the 2008 global financial crisis? Finally, is intervention effective and, if so, how can its efficacy be measured?The main conclusion emerging from the discussion is that a flexible exchange rate plays a crucial role in smoothing output volatility in EMEs. However, as highlighted by several papers in this volume, a highly volatile exchange rate can increase output volatility and itself become a source of vulnerability. Second, over the past five years, most official forex interventions in EMEs were intended to stem volatility rather than to achieve a particular exchange rate. Finally, the majority view was that exchange rate intervention needs to be consistent with the monetary policy stance. Persistent, one-sided intervention, associated with sharp expansion of central bank balance sheets, creates risks for the economy. Yet there was no consensus about the effectiveness of forex intervention. Whereas intervention was viewed as an instrument that could potentially curb forex volatility and support market functioning, many participants were skeptical about its effectiveness in the face of a shift in the equilibrium exchange rate. A review of replies from central banks to a survey questionnaire suggested that, while intervention may work mainly through the signalling channel, some of its effectiveness may be due to the fact that it was combined with other measures to moderate capital flows or prevent the build-up of certain positions in the foreign exchange market. In several cases, intervention had no persistent effects on the exchange rate and might have helped to exacerbate exchange rate volatility in the wrong direction. This overview is organised around the three main themes of the meeting. Section I looks at the role of a flexible exchange rate. Section II discusses the motives and objectives behind intervention. Section III reviews lessons learned about the effectiveness of intervention.Full publication: Market Volatility and Foreign Exchange Intervention in EMEs: What Has Changed?

Analyzing determinants of bond yield spreads with Bayesian Model Averaging.

Abstract: This paper analyzes determinants of country default risk in emerging markets, reflected by sovereign yield spreads. The results reported so far in the literature are heterogeneous with respect to significant explanatory variables. This could indicate a high degree of uncertainty about the “true” regression model. We use Bayesian Model Averaging as the model selection method in order to find the variables which are most likely to determine credit risk. We document that total debt, history of recent default, currency depreciation, and growth rate of foreign currency reserves as well as market sentiments are the key drivers of yield spreads.

A Growth Perspective on Foreign Reserve Accumulation

Abstract: Based on a dynamic open-economy macroeconomic model, this paper aims at understanding the contribution of domestic financial underdevelopment to foreign reserve accumulation in some emerging market economies, especially in China. It is argued that foreign reserve accumulation is part and parcel of a growth strategy based on strong capital investment in a financially constrained economy. It is further proved using a Ramsey problem that purchasing international reserves is a welfare-improving policy in terms of production efficiency gains if it is jointly used with capital controls. In fact, when domestic firms are occasionally credit-constrained and they do not have a direct access to international financial market, they need domestic saving instruments to increase their retained earnings so that they can sufficiently invest in capital. The central bank plays the role of financial intermediary and provides domestic firms with liquid public bonds, thus relaxing domestic financial constraints. The proceeds of domestic public bonds are invested abroad due to the limited scope of domestic financial market and a depressed domestic interest rate, leading to foreign reserve stockpiling. The speed of foreign reserve accumulation would slow down once the economic growth rate decelerates and the domestic financial market develops.

Volatility Spillovers Among the U.S. and Asian Stock Markets: A Comparison between the Periods of Asian Currency Crisis and Subprime Credit Crisis

Abstract: This paper examines the changing nature of volatility spillovers among the U.S. and eight East Asian stock markets between two financial crises: the Asian currency crisis and the U.S. subprime credit crisis. Our empirical results suggest that volatility is not always spilled over from directly affected markets to surrounding markets in crisis periods. The East Asian markets who directly suffered from the Asian currency crisis are the ones to which volatility is spilled over from other markets during the Asian currency crisis period, whereas unidirectional volatility spillovers from the U.S. market to other markets are observed during both crisis periods. This difference can be explained by a predetermined hierarchy in which volatility spillovers tend to start from the U.S. market regardless of the geographical origin of the crisis. Furthermore, our results reveal that the markets in three major Asian financial hubs, i.e., Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, are the markets to which volatility is spilled over unidirectionally from several other countries during the subprime credit crisis period, whereas it is not true during the Asian currency crisis period. We attribute this difference to crisis-specific (currency or credit crisis), market-specific (credit derivatives market participation and foreign currency reserves), and time-specific (more integrated global market) factor.

The Elephant Hiding in the Room: Currency Intervention and Trade Imbalances

Abstract: Official purchases of foreign assets -- a broad definition of currency intervention -- are strongly correlated with current account (trade) imbalances. Causality runs in both directions, but statistical analysis using instrumental variables reveals that the effect of official asset purchases on current accounts is very large. A country’s current account balance increases between 60 and 100 cents for each dollar spent on intervention. This is a much larger effect than is widely assumed. These results raise serious questions about the efficiency of international financial markets.

Survey of Reserve Managers: Lessons from the Crisis

Abstract: This paper reports in detail on a survey that was circulated to reserve managing central banks of IMF member countries in April 2012. The survey aims to gain further insight into how reserve managers have reacted to the crisis to date. The survey also aims to understand how reserve managers arrive at their strategic asset allocation and how they operate their risk management frameworks in practice. Some of the key themes that emerge from the survey include potential procyclical and counter cyclical behavior by reserve managers, increased focus placed on returns and wide variability across countries in how the currency composition of reserves is derived.

Foreign Exchange Accumulation and the Entrapment of Chinese Monetary Power: Towards a Balanced Growth Regime?

Abstract: This article criticises the notion that China's foreign exchange reserves have strengthened its monetary power. While some scholars have argued that China's international monetary influence has been ‘entrapped’ by the domestic interests of its export sector, a one-sided focus on the export sector fails to identify the significant constraints on its macroeconomic autonomy. This article proposes an extension of the concept of entrapment that draws attention to the key role of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and their domestic fixed-asset investment in its growth regime: China's external monetary dependency – which is understood as both export dependency and the need to maintain foreign exchange accumulation – has been caused by a disparity between fixed-asset investment and private consumption that reflects a redistribution of income from the household sector to the SOE sector. In particular, I expose the SOE sector's rising interests in foreign exchange accumulation by uncovering a mutually reinforcing dyna...

Currency Demand during the Global Financial Crisis: Evidence from Australia

Abstract: Australian financial institutions remained healthy throughout the global financial crisis and their deposits were guaranteed by the Federal Government. Nevertheless, demand for currency increased abnormally quickly in late 2008, resulting in an additional $5 billion (or 12 per cent) of Australian banknotes on issue by the end of that year. The rise in currency demand began in mid October 2008, around four weeks after the collapse of Lehman Brothers and concurrently with policy responses of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the Federal Government. The surge in currency demand did not have any destabilizing effect on the banking system – indeed bank deposits also rose during the period. However, the rise in currency demand did raise some issues for the RBA's banknote distribution operations. Traditional methods of currency demand suggest a role for interest rate reductions and the Federal Government stimulus payments to households in explaining the increase in currency holdings. We estimate that these factors can only account for around 20 per cent of the observed increase in currency holdings. The remainder of the rise could be due to an increase in precautionary holdings by people concerned about the liquidity or solvency of financial institutions and by financial institutions as a contingency. This is consistent with the disproportionate rise in demand for high-denomination banknotes at this time.

Did China diversify its foreign reserves

Abstract: SUMMARY This paper takes a novel approach to detect the latent currency portfolio of Chinese foreign exchange reserves and the underlying portfolio management strategies during 2000 and 2007. Based on a portfolio accounting identity and the budget constraint of the Chinese central bank's holding of foreign assets, the monthly growth rate of reserves can be decomposed into monthly rate of return, valuation effects of exchange rates, and monthly net purchase rate. The valuation effect reveals the value share of each currency. Bayesian inference is adopted to estimate the state-space model with a mixture of Gaussian distributions. The results show that China significantly and dramatically diversified its reserves out of the US dollar in 2002: both the euro's value and quantity shares increased from 5% to more than 20%. By the end of 2007, China held about (at most) 67.3% of its reserves in the US dollar, 22% in the euro, 2.5% in the Japanese yen, 4.7% in the Australian dollar, and 3.5% in the British pound. The average annual rate of return was about 3%. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Pick Your Poison: The Choices and Consequences of Policy Responses to Crises

Abstract: Countries choose different strategies when responding to crises. It is challenging to assess the impact of these policy choices on key variables, however, because of endogeneity and selection bias. This paper addresses these challenges by using propensity-score matching to estimate how major reserve sales, large currency depreciations, substantial changes in policy interest rates, and increased controls on capital outflows affect real GDP growth, unemployment, and inflation during two periods marked by crises, 1997 to 2001 and 2007 to 2011. We find that sharp currency depreciations and major reserve sales significantly raise GDP growth (albeit with a lagged effect and after an initial contraction) and also increase inflation (especially depreciations). These policies have weaker benefits and greater costs in emerging and non-OECD economies (especially reserve sales). Estimates also show that increasing interest rates and new controls on capital outflows significantly lower GDP growth.

The financial role of east asian countries in global imbalances: an econometric assessment of developments after the global financial crisis

Abstract: The central objective of our paper is to empirically assess how global imbalances, have evolved since the global financial crisis of 2008–2009. More specifically, we examine how the portfolio investment positions of major East Asian countries in US financial markets — equities, debt securities, and bank lending — changed after the crisis. Our econometric analysis, based on the gravity model to identify the determinants of foreign portfolio investment into the US, finds that the "over-investment" of most East Asian countries remained substantial since the global crisis, especially in equities and long term debt securities. That is, even after the global crisis, most East Asian economies continue to hold excessive amounts of US securities, but the degree of over-investment appears to have declined for some economies in holdings of certain type of securities. We also find that East Asian countries over-invest in US financial markets largely due to excessive savings and foreign exchange reserves.

Sovereign Wealth and Risk Management: A Framework for Optimal Asset Allocation of Sovereign Wealth

Abstract: This paper sets out a new approach to sovereign wealth and risk management, based on the theory of contingent claim analysis (CCA). To manage sovereign risk, it is essential to analyse the sovereign’s balance sheet. The state has to solve an asset-liability management (ALM) problem between its sources of income and its expenditure. The analytical framework for this approach covers all public entities, not only the state budget, and includes implicit guarantees to the private sector. It has a number of essential applications for sovereign wealth management, particularly with respect to sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) and foreign exchange reserves. We present the conceptual framework, tools and data needed to carry out this type of analysis. We then focus on Chile to provide a practical example of sovereign balance sheet estimation and sovereign ALM.

Measuring currency pressures: The cases of the Japanese yen, the Chinese yuan, and the UK pound

Abstract: We investigate bilateral currency pressures against the US dollar for three currencies: the Japanese yen, the Chinese yuan, and the UK pound during the period 2000:Q1 to 2009:Q4. We employ a model-based methodology to measure exchange market pressure over the period. Conversion factors required to estimate the pressure on these currencies are computed using a time-varying coefficient regression. We then use our measures of currency pressures to assess deviations of exchange rates from their market-equilibrium levels. For the yen, our measure of currency pressure suggests undervaluation during the initial part of our estimation period, a period during which the Bank of Japan sold yen in the foreign exchange market. We find persistent undervaluation of the yuan throughout the estimation period, with the undervaluation peaking at about 20% in 2004 and 2007. For the pound, the results indicate low pressure – suggesting a mainly free-floating currency – throughout the sample period. These results appear consistent with the policies pursued by the central banks of the currencies in question.

Did China avoid the ‘Asian flu’? The contagion effect test with dynamic correlation coefficients

Abstract: Many economists believe that China avoided the so-called Asian flu due to its strong balance of payments position and substantial foreign reserves. This study introduces an improved method for testing financial-crisis contagion and shows that crisis-contagion effects were significant among Thailand and the Chinese economic area (i.e. China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan) stock markets during the Asian financial crisis. The main contribution of this study is its use of a two-step procedure to identify the crisis dates for testing for contagion and data pertaining to a growing triangular economic area during the Asian financial crisis. This result suggests that if investors ignore the economic and financial information within regional markets, they will face an increase in uncertainty vis-a-vis investment returns.

The Eurozone: Piecemeal Approach to an Optimum Currency Area

Abstract: Soon after the establishment of the Eurozone it became obvious that the structural differences between member states would not abate, as expected, but rather gradually widen. Although part of the problem can be attributed to the enlargement process, it also relates to asymmetric effects of the common currency and to diverging economic policies. This paper discusses the literature which associates the economic characteristics of EMU with arguments of the optimum currency area (OCA) theory and asks for missing capstones that would meliorate EMU to eventually resemble an OCA. As potential candidates for such building blocks, some sort of fiscal union and lender of last resort may qualify, drawing on the experiences of other currency unions and federal states. The financial and debt crisis has revealed that the endogenous forces within a currency union may be too slow to absorb the shocks originating from the crisis. For a currency union to survive in such a situation it is all the more important that the OCA criteria are met and/or that complementary institutions are in place. However, as actual developments in the Eurozone reveal, the political process of approaching an OCA is piecemeal rather than comprehensive and prompt.

Debt Redemption and Reserve Accumulation

Abstract: Foreign participation in local-currency bond markets in emerging countries has increased dramatically over the past decade. In light of this trend, we revisit sovereign debt sustainability and incentives to default when the sovereign is temporarily excluded from capital markets. Differently from previous analyses, we assume that in addition to accumulating international reserves, countries can borrow internationally using their own currency. As opposed to traditional sovereign debt models (all in foreign currency), the asset valuation effects occasioned by currency depreciation (or appreciation) act to absorb global shocks and render consumption smoother. In this setting, countries do not accumulate high levels of reserves to be depleted in “bad” times. Instead, issuing domestic debt while accumulating high levels of reserves acts as a hedge against negative external shocks. A quantitative exercise, in which our model matches features of the Brazilian economic fluctuations and exchange-rate volatility, suggests this strategy to be highly effective for smoothing consumption and reducing the occurrence of default.

Scotland's Currency Options

Abstract: This paper considers which currency option would be best for an independent Scotland. We examine three currency options: being part of a sterling currency union, adopting the euro, or having an independent currency. No currency option is the best when considered against all criteria. Therefore, making the decision requires deciding which criteria are most important. Recent events around the world, particularly in Europe, have shown that fiscal sustainability and currency arrangements cannot be considered in isolation. Hence, the share of the existing UK public debt that an independent Scotland would inherit is central to understanding its currency choices. We consider how the debt may be divided, and the ability of an independent Scotland to pay its share. For an independent Scotland to prosper it requires a 'hard' currency, one in which investors are willing to hold long-dated Scottish government debt at a reasonable price. A necessary condition for a 'hard' currency is that government solvency is always beyond doubt.