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

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 dynamic between China's external monetary dependence and the financial repression of its banking system. By entrenching an investment-led growth regime that provides key benefits the SOE sector, this dynamic is found to have seriously constrained the macroeconomic policy autonomy of Chinese authorities to rebalance growth away from investments and exports towards private consumption.     

Growth of China's foreign exchange reserve

China's growing foreign exchange reserve is estimated to exceed $2 trillion by 2010. The purpose of its paper is to examine its impact on the balance sheet of the Chinese central bank, the money supply and the bond market. The paper will then move on to discuss its social welfare effect by comparing the estimated future return of the foreign exchange reserves with its opportunity costs measured by the potential return of domestic investments.     

解析外汇储备对中国货币政策的影响

本文从中国外汇储备的现状入手，分析了中国外汇储备迅猛增长的原因，封高外汇储备封中国货币政策影响的机理追行了探讨，从而得出结论：高外汇储备使基础货币的可调控空间减小，弱化了中国货币政策的自主性。     

The effects of exchange rate risk on economic performance: the Turkish experience

This study examines the effects of real exchange rate risk on the economic performance for an emerging, small open economy: Turkey. When the ratios of the total foreign exchange liabilities of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) to: (1) total reserves; (2) the CBRT's reserves; and (3) the CBRT's total Turkish lira liabilities are taken proxy of exchange rate risk, the empirical evidence suggests that the increase in exchange rate risk causes a depreciation in the real exchange rate, an increase in prices and a decrease in output.     

出口退税、贸易盈余和外汇储备的一般均衡分析与中国的实证

本文构建了一个简单的大国开放经济一般均衡模型,从理论上探讨了外汇储备从贸易盈余时的短期均衡到贸易平衡时的长期均衡的动态变化过程,并在此基础上量化分析了降低出口退税率对长期均衡时的外汇储备的影响。研究表明,降低出口退税率在短期内对减少贸易盈余和控制外汇储备增量有一定的帮助,但长期来看则与出口产品的价格弹性密切相关,只有降低那些价格弹性较大的产品的出口退税率,才能够有效地减少长期均衡时的外汇储备,否则可能产生适得其反的效果。中国数据的实证研究支持了理论模型的结论。由于中国的出口产品总体缺乏价格弹性,因此,近年来实行的一系列出口退税政策改革在长期内使国家外汇储备出现了一定程度的增加。本文最后提出了相关的政策建议。     

ANALYSIS OF INTERNATIONAL RESERVE HOARDING IN KOREA

Since the Asian financial crisis, Korea's accumulation of international reserves has substantially exceeded benchmark levels. The present paper examines the interaction between international reserve hoarding and mercantilist motives, in the context of Korea's policy of maintaining export competitiveness through exchange rate management. An estimation of cointegration and error correction has found that in both the long term and the short term, Korea has stockpiled reserves as a result of heightened concerns regarding export competitiveness. The short‐run dynamics entail precautionary motives that have contributed to reserve accumulation. A variance decomposition test suggests that the mercantilist motive has been the main driver of reserve accumulation.     

对当前我国外汇储备基金实现投资增值的思考

外汇储备必须在满足流动性和安全性前提下,拓展投资渠道,控制投资风险,提高投资收益.近几年来,我国外汇储备持续高企,而外汇储备基金投资却只有3%的营运收益率.本文分析了我国外汇储备基金投资增值的现状,从区分管理功能和投资功能,组建高效基金运营模式;设定投资基准和投资限额,控制和规避投资风险;优化外汇储备的货币结构和资产结构,拓宽投资渠道;加快培养吸纳国际金融市场操作人才,完善有关法规等几个方面提出了改进外汇储备基金投资增值的对策.     

基于区域经济实力的储备货币研究

随着我国外汇储备规模的迅速扩大及年新增储备的急剧增加,我国外汇储备币种结构的管理已成为国内外的热门课题。本文通过分析目前我国外汇储备币种结构现状,指出当前过多的美元储备造成了巨大价值损失和战略风险。在收集大量经济数据的基础上,以全新视角构建了基于区域经济实力的储备结构模型,通过对该模型的价值评估,得出该模型有较大的现实意义,最后提出了基于当前我国外汇规模及年增量水平下的国家外储结构调整方案。     

MODELLING THE TRANSITION TOWARDS THE RENMINBI'S FULL CONVERTIBILITY: IMPLICATIONS FOR CHINA'S GROWTH

There is a widespread consensus that China needs to rebalance its export‐driven growth paradigm towards a more consumption‐based one and that such process is to be accompanied by the transition towards the renminbi's full convertibility. However, the Chinese authorities have so far acted with great caution because this transition cannot but accelerate the slowdown of China's growth which will likely occur because of other structural factors. We address these issues by means of a two‐country two‐stage (before and after the renminbi's full convertibility) model, which reproduces some qualitative features of China's growth pattern and its relationship with the United States. We analyse the extent to which altering the Chinese exchange rate regime, as well as other policies affecting sensitive social and economic issues, may impact on the short‐, medium‐ and long‐term evolution of the Chinese economy. The paper shows that by lifting the controls on the capital account and letting the currency float, the Chinese authorities will renounce those policy instruments for controlling the allocation of the national resources and the dynamics of China's economy.     

The impacts of Renminbi appreciation on trade flows and reserve accumulation in a monetary trade model

Given the rapidly growing reserves in Asia (China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan) and the pressures from trading partners to revalue, there is a need to examine commercial policy in more than a pure barter model. Here we evaluate the joint impacts of exchange rate appreciation on trade flows and country surpluses using a general equilibrium trade model with a simple monetary structure in which the trade surplus is endogenously determined in the exchange rate setting country and the exchange rate is exogenous. We illustrate its application to the Chinese case using calibration to 2005 data. Our results, while elasticity dependent, suggest that the impacts of Renminbi (RMB) revaluation on the surplus are proportionally larger than on trade flows, and that changes in trade flows can be substantial. Different treatments of China's processing trade have small impact on changes in China's trade flow under RMB appreciation, but significant impacts on the change in the surplus. Results are elasticity dependent; larger substitution elasticities in preferences yield larger effects on trade flows and the surplus.     

China's Banking Reform

This article discusses the main problems facing the Chinese banking system and concludes that, despite serious problems, the risk seems small that, in the near future, a financial crisis will occur that will pose severe problems for the international financial system. An internal financial crisis, however, could occur. Without government support, the economic viability of many of China's banks is questionable. The government and central bank authorities acknowledge the situation and have taken some steps toward reform. The most serious threat to the banking system lies in the accumulation of non-performing loans (NPLs)--many of them policybased loans extended by state-owned banks to money-losing state-owned companies with little expectation that they would be completely repaid. China has been taking measures to keep the problem from worsening and has created four asset management companies to dispose of NPLs that still have value. Since the Chinese economic reforms began in 1978, Chinese authorities have made significant progress in modernising their banking system, although they still have a long way to go. However, there are several ameliorating factors that still keep its financial and foreign exchange system viable. China's continued high rate of growth and high savings rate have funneled deposits into the banking system, while a $20-30 billion annual trade surplus together with an inflow of foreign direct investment at about $40 billion per year have resulted in an accumulation of foreign exchange reserves exceeding $200 billion. China does not carry an unusually heavy debt burden, either domestic or international, although its short-term borrowing in foreign currencies has been increasing. China does not currently face a serious risk of either a domestic or international liquidity crisis--unless, of course, a severe and prolonged world recession occurs that adversely affects Chinese exports as well as the inflow of foreign direct investment.     

International Transmission of the People's Bank of China's Balance Sheet Expansion

The People's Bank of China's (PBoC) balance sheet expanded more dramatically than any of its major international counterparts during the past decade. The main contribution to this expansion was the rapid accumulation of the central bank's foreign assets, as a result of foreign exchange market intervention. In this paper, we examine the possible international transmission of this expansion by analyzing monthly data for China and 15 other countries over the period 2000–2012. Impulse response analysis based on vector autoregression modeling suggests that the PBoC's balance sheet expansion has greater impacts on developing than on developed countries. So far the influences appear to be dominated by “trade channels” instead of “financial channels,” possibly due to China's capital account controls. However, the impacts of the PBoC's balance sheet expansion on other countries' interest rates, exchange rates, and stock market prices could strengthen significantly in the coming years as China's economic scale grows and its capital account opens up.     

Exchange Rate Dynamics with Foreign Reserves: Revisiting the Dornbusch Overshooting Model

The purpose of this study is to shed light on the management of foreign reserves that possibly have contradictory policy intentions and impacts, for instance, (1) to defend the domestic currency, (2) to depreciate the domestic currency. With this Möbius's strip‐like nature in mind, we extend the Dornbusch (1976) exchange rate overshooting model with the foreign reserves. Depending on financial vulnerability, the presence of foreign reserves could amplify or alleviate monetary policy shocks on the exchange rate.     

International Reserves and the Composition of Foreign Equity Investment

This paper studies the effect of central banks' international reserve hoardings on the composition of foreign equity investment. Specifically, it examines whether reserves affect the share of foreign portfolio equity investment (PEI) in total foreign equity investment, which includes both PEI and foreign direct investment (FDI). Foreign investors' decisions regarding the location and the type of equity capital investment might be influenced by a country's level of international reserves. In a simple theoretical model, it is shown that higher reserves, thanks to their ability to lower exchange rate risk, reduce the risk premium of PEI. Hence, higher reserves are expected to increase the inflow of PEI relative to FDI. This hypothesis is tested for a sample of 76 developing countries during the period 1980–2010 using different estimation methods, model specifications and data samples. The results suggest that higher levels of reserves are associated with a larger share of PEI relative to FDI. This result points to a collateral benefit of reserves that has been neglected so far. Reserves may contribute to develop domestic financial markets and facilitate domestic firms' access to foreign portfolio equity financing. In addition, this paper finds a strong negative effect of the global financial crisis beginning in 2008 on the share of PEI, which confirms the hypothesis that PEI is more crisis‐dependent than FDI.     

基于情景规划的国家公园气候变化 应对：美国经验及对中国的启示

：应对气候变化已成为全球共识，国家公园和自然保 护地既是应对气候变化的重要阵地，也是受气候变化影响的敏 感区域，但中国目前的研究和实践均还较薄弱，亟须借鉴域外 经验。系统梳理了美国国家公园体系中，气候变化对自然、文 化和社区的影响，概述了美国国家公园管理局的气候变化应对 行动，指出情景规划是重要的气候变化应对工具。总结了美 国国家公园在气候变化中开展情景规划的流程，提炼其规划特 征，并以魔鬼塔国家纪念区为案例，详析其情景规划实践过 程。在此基础上，总结了中国国家公园及体制试点区可能面临 的气候变化风险，对比了情景规划与传统规划的区别，明确目 前推广条件的欠缺，指出应逐步推广情景规划，并从实现科研 储备、奠定实践基础、建立规划体系三方面提出可能的路径， 对中国开展国家公园和自然保护地应对气候变化的相关工作具 有借鉴意义。     

The monetary autonomy of Finland: What can the time series analysis tell us?

The effectiveness of domestic monetary policy under fixed exchange rates is highly dependent on the response of the foreign exchange reserves to a monetary expansion or contraction. Domestic monetary conditions, in turn, can be expected to be subject to shocks emerging from changes in reserves. These shocks can badly harm stabilization objectives if they are not neutralized. This paper analyzes the monetary autonomy of the Finnish economy during the 1970's and early 1980's using a data-oriented approach suggested byGeweke. A purely empiristic interpretation of the results would indicate that the degree of monetary autonomy is high and increasing over time. However, incorporating theoretical considerations turns this conclusion upside down. The Finnish financial system has in all likelihood experienced structural changes that have reduced the potential for effective monetary policies. On the other hand, we do not find any evidence of strong effects of reserve shocks on the domestic money and credit markets, though the importance of such shocks may have increased slightly. Methodologically, the analysis highlights that economic theory is needed in organizing empirical observations even when the point of departure is data-oriented.     

The new exchange rate policy in the Asian emerging economies – goodbye trouble,hello comfort?

In this paper, we discuss new aspects of exchange rate policy that can be observed in the Asian emerging economies. In the first place, we show the alternative regimes they may choose and their respective pros and cons. Secondly, we concentrate on the recent strategy of systematic undervaluation of one's currency – figuring prominently among ‘big’ Asian players such as China and India – and the most likely implications of such a strategy for domestic allocation, distribution and stabilization goals. With the background of Germany's experiences in 1969, almost on the eve of the Bretton Woods' system collapse, we model a speculative attack on an undervalued currency in the vein of the Flood–Garber seminal paper from 1984. Now, however, the country in concern (just like India and China) possesses strong rather than weak fundamentals. The continuous accumulation of international reserves, in addition, leads to the question of an ‘optimal management’ of foreign exchange reserves in Asian emerging economies with regard to size and composition. We finally propose a sequence of reforms/policies that should be implemented in those Asian emerging economies on their still long journey to a regime featured by autonomous monetary policy, flexible exchange rate and capital mobility. A brief summary and an outlook for future research close the paper.     

国际资本流动“突然停止”、消费平滑与最优外汇储备持有量*

通常认为外汇储备具有抵御外部冲击、平滑居民消费、增进社会福利的作用。循此逻辑,文章构建了三部门模型模拟了货币当局面临资本流动“突然停止”时,出于平滑消费目的的最优储备持有行为。研究发现：中国静态最优外汇储备量约占GDP的1926%;中国实际储备与最优储备的差额自2010年起稳定在18万亿美元;最优外汇储备量与“突然停止”发生概率及其导致的产出损失、短期外债规模、居民存款规模及危机时的资产置换比率、风险规避程度正相关,与银行备付金比率、国际风险溢价程度负相关;从危机应急的角度看,提高银行备付金比率、控制居民存款置换外币比例能有效节约外汇储备,但从长远来看控制国内短期外债规模、确保银行稳健运营才是应对国际资本“突然停止”风险的关键。     

略论我国巨额外汇储备对从紧货币政策的影响

外汇储备作为一国经济金融实力的标志,它是弥补本国国际收支逆差、稳定本国汇率以及维持本国国际信誉的物质基础,但外汇储备并非多多益善.尤其对我国2008年开始实行的从紧货币政策而言,巨额的外汇储备导致的外汇占款会形成强大的压力,以至削弱货币政策的有效性.从我国外汇储备状况的现实入手,分析了我国外汇储备迅猛增长的原因及巨额外汇储备对我国从紧货币政策造成的压力.     

Asset-based Reserve Requirements: Some Reservations

Abstract

Thomas Palley's (2004) paper ‘Asset-based reserve requirements: reasserting domestic monetary control in an era of financial innovation and instability’ has radical implications for monetary policy and the operations of central banks in the money markets. This comment argues that Palley's proposal may be impractical today because it overlooks banks' holding of excessive reserves (or claims on such reserves), and because reserves allocated for particular kinds of business cannot be isolated in bank balance sheets or markets. In particular, once differential reserves are imposed on particular kinds of business, banks may respond to changes in reserve requirements by varying their assets in less predictable ways than the scheme suggests. A central bank's willingness to use differential reserve requirements will be inhibited by the current policy doctrine that emphasises control of a stable money market rate of interest. In any case, it is doubtful if interest rates or reserve requirements could have the specific targeted effects that Palley's model suggests.