Speculative attacks with unpredictable or unknown foreign exchange reserves

During a currency crisis, speculators usually do not know the value of a central bank's foreign exchange reserves. In this paper I show that modelling speculators as having imperfect knowledge of reserves enriches the predictions of the classical model of speculative attacks. With realistic lags in reserve reporting and costs to unsuccessful speculation, successful speculative attacks will involve a jump depreciation, unsuccessful attacks may occur, attacks may occur when fundamentals are improving, attacks may not be preceded by large increases in interest rates, and fixed exchange rates may be abandoned with no attack and no decline in the money supply. JEL Classification: F31     

The Effects of Foreign Currency Derivatives on the Monetary Policy Exchange Rate Channel in China

This paper examines changes in the monetary policy exchange rate channel in the presence of foreign currency derivatives (FCD) markets in China. Initially a theoretical macroeconomics model incorporating the exchange rate risk hedging is presented, and this is followed by an empirical test. A theoretical model implies that with more firms using foreign currency derivatives to hedge the exchange rate risk, the effect of the exchange rate on the net exports will be weaker and may even be reversed. The empirical section uses Structure Vector Autoregression (SVAR) models with China's monthly macro data over the 2000–2013 period to assess the impact of the FCD market on the exchange rate channel. Empirical support for the changes in the exchange rate channel transmission is found. By impulse response function (IRF) analysis, with the emergence of the domestic FCD market in China, in the long run the probability becomes higher that the negative effect of RMB appreciation on China's net exports to the US is reversed; meanwhile the negative effects of RMB appreciation on the overall net exports and the net exports to the EU become gradually weaker on average.     

Currency Regime and Monetary Autonomy. Empirical Evidence Using Recent and Global Data from 1990 to 2007

This paper analyzes the exchange rate regimes from the perspective of monetary independence. To be specific, using recent and global data, we examine the sensitivity of domestic interest rates to the international interest rate, by conducting co-integration tests and by estimating the adjustment speeds through error-correction model, for different de facto currency regimes and for different types of capital markets. Our estimation results basically support the traditional views of ‘impossible trinity’, as far as the cases with open capital markets are concerned. The floating regime shows the less sensitivity of domestic interest rates to the international interest rate than the fixed regime does, which implies some capacity for domestic monetary autonomy under the floating regime. The cases with closed capital markets, on the other hand, include the cases showing high sensitivity of interest rates in some emerging market economies, which might imply the ‘fear of floating’ hypothesis.     

The puzzling dual of the uncovered interest parity puzzle evidence from Pacific Rim capital flows

International financial arbitrage should prevent the existence of non-zero expected returns when borrowing in one currency and lending in another implying that interest differentials should predict exchange rate movements. The failure of interest differentials to act as an unbiased predictor of future exchange rate movements is referred to as the uncovered interest parity puzzle. This paper explores whether capital flows respond to these interest differentials in the context of a model in which dynamic adjustment costs keep capital from flowing immediately across borders. The paper finds little or even a negative relationship between expected excess returns on exchange rate adjusted U.S. money market rates (relative to domestic interest rates) and capital flows to the U.S. from Australia, Canada, Japan or Korea.     

Tax Effects on the Real Exchange Rate

This study examines the impact of taxes on the real exchange rate through their marginal effects on economic activity. We hypothesize that an increase in the capital interest tax rate leads to real domestic currency depreciation while an increase in wage or consumption tax rates leads to a real domestic currency appreciation. These hypotheses are supported by an empirical study using panel data estimations of annual data from 10 OECD countries over 17 years.     

The ‘compensation’ thesis,as exemplified by the case of the Chinese central bank

This paper extends the theory of demand-led money supply endogeneity to the case of an open economy with a fixed exchange rate. This theory is contrasted to the standard Mundell-Fleming view. In the compensation approach advocated here, central banks are able to set interest rates, even in a fixed exchange rate regime, either because there are automatic market mechanisms that will induce the private sector to act in such a way that changes in foreign reserves will be compensated by opposite changes in central bank claims over the domestic economy, or because the central bank will engage in endogenous sterilization operations in its efforts to enforce its benchmark interest rate. Analyzing the balance sheet of the Chinese central bank, we find that the large rise in foreign reserves on the asset side is compensated by large positive changes in items of the liability side, mainly bonds issued by the central bank. Foreign reserves are not cointegrated with the monetary base, meaning that there is no long-run relationship between foreign exchange reserves and the supply of base money. We also find no long-run relation between foreign exchange reserves and the consumer price index.     

货币替代理论研究述评

货币替代是开放经济中所特有的一种货币性扰动,它会对一国的经济金融形势产生严重影响,如货币政策的独立性和有效性受到影响、政府的财政税基遭到削弱、汇率波动频繁、国际收支失衡、减缓甚至阻碍该国货币的自由兑换进程等。随着中国经济高速增长以及人民币的强烈升值预期,我国出现了人民币正在逐步替代外币美元的反向货币替代现象,同样对我国经济造成了一系列的冲击。本文首先从货币替代的定义、形成机制、经济影响、防范风险的对策等方面对国外文献进行了理论综述;然后,分析了国内学者对货币替代理论的研究,特别研究了我国在目前背景下出现的反向货币替代现象;最后在对国内外货币替代理论文献综述的基础上,对将来的研究方向进行了展望。     

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF EXCHANGE RATE APPRECIATION AND AGGREGATE ECONOMIC ACTIVITY: THEORY AND EVIDENCE FROM MIDDLE EASTERN COUNTRIES

The paper examines the effects of exchange rate depreciation on real output and price in a sample of 11 developing countries in the Middle East. The theoretical model decomposes movements in the exchange rate into anticipated and unanticipated components. Unanticipated currency fluctuations determine aggregate demand through exports, imports, and the demand for domestic currency, and determine aggregate supply through the cost of imported intermediate goods. The evidence indicates that the supply channel attributed to anticipated exchange rate appreciation results in limited effects on output growth and price inflation. Consistent with theory's predictions, unanticipated appreciation of the exchange rate appears more significant with varying effects on output growth and price inflation across developing countries.     

Consumer arbitrage in cross‐border e‐commerce

In today’s internet markets consumers can search for, find and compare prices worldwide. Online, information circulates faster than offline and arbitrage opportunities such as the ones arising from currency shocks are easily unveiled. In this paper, we estimate for the first‐time exchange rate elasticities for cross‐border e‐commerce transactions. Exploiting a new high‐frequency database on international transactions of parcels, we find that a 1% appreciation of the domestic currency increases e‐commerce imports by 0.7%. Comparing the result with traditional estimates in offline markets, this implies a 50% exchange rate pass‐through online.     

人民币汇率、资产价格与短期国际资本流动

本文基于1999年1月～2008年6月的月度数据,运用ARDL-ECM模型检验了人民币汇率、资产价格与我国短期国际资本流动的关系。结果表明,长期内,人民币汇率预期变化率和国内外利差是影响短期国际资本流动的显著因素,人民币汇率水平、国内股市收益率和房地产收益率并未对短期国际资本流动产生显著影响;短期内,人民币汇率、国内外利差和房地产收益率对短期国际资本流动有显著的滞后效应。     

Internationalisation of the Renminbi as an Investing and a Funding Currency: Analytics and Prospects

This paper develops a three‐currency model to study the determinants of the demand for assets and liabilites denominated in an international currency and to shed light on the prospects for the renminbi as a budding international currency. We show that interest rate differentials would be only one of the factors shaping the renminbi's position, while other factors, including the correlation between foreign countries' economic growth and their bilateral exchange rates against the renminbi, and the correlation between exchange rates of the renminbi with other international currencies, would also be important. A broad interpretation of these findings is that the renminbi will likely be attractive to investors from high‐income economies and fund‐raisers from emerging market economies.     

Bi‐currency versus Single‐currency Targeting: Lessons from the Russian Experience

This paper examines how the 2005 shift in Russian exchange rate policy from US dollar (USD) single‐currency to USD–EUR (euro) bi‐currency targeting has impacted domestic interest rates. The finding show that this policy shift has disconnected Russian interest rates from US dollar‐denominated interest rates, while instead linking them to a synthetic interest rate composed of USD and EUR rates at the same proportion as that of these two currencies in the currency basket against which the ruble's exchange rate is set. The Russian experience shows that while the adoption of bi‐currency targeting may help ensure that domestic interest rates are less dependent on the monetary cycle of a single country, these rates are instead likely to reflect financial developments in all countries whose currencies are included in the currency basket. This insight is likely to be relevant for other countries that pursue basket‐targeting policies.     

The Devil you Know: Pegs vs Floats with Uncertain Outcomes

Theory predicts that a fixed exchange rate regime will be abandoned after a sizable economic shock as currency devaluation could stimulate exports and output. However, devaluation is risky as the new level of the exchange rate and the rate of inflation cannot be predicted. We show that this uncertainty creates resistance to devaluation. Policymakers prefer to maintain the fixed exchange rate and to undergo internal adjustment. We illustrate the point theoretically and provide supporting evidence from Bulgaria's currency board.     

Simple tests of target zones: the Irish case

In a small open economy with fixed exchange rates, tandard theory suggests that domestic inflation and interest rates should equal those abroad. In a credible target zone, the same theories suggest that inflation and interest rates should be ‘close’. Here, we seek to make precise this idea of limits on inflation and interest rate differentials consistent with limits on exchange rate movements. We then examine the case of Ireland, which joined the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) of the European Monetary System (EMS) in 1979 attracted by the prospects of lower, German influenced, inflation and interest rates. We find in the early years of the ERM, both Irish inflation and interest rastes were inconsistent with credibility of the exchange rate regime; in he latter years, from 1987 on, rates were in the derived range around German rates.     

Do Exchange Rate Shocks Have Asymmetric Effects on Reserve Accumulation? Evidence from Emerging Markets*

It is generally argued that central banks in emerging market countries, motivated by a desire to defend export competitiveness, tend to intervene in foreign exchange markets to limit currency appreciations rather than depreciations. Using panel data from 13 emerging market countries for the period 1998:M1 to 2016:M12, we find that exchange rate shocks play an important role in determining the accumulation of international reserves. Moreover, we find evidence that central banks in emerging markets tend to follow a “leaning against the depreciation wind” policy, rather than the appreciation wind (i.e., we provide evidence of a “fear of depreciation”).     

A model of liability dollarization and myopic governments

Abstract

Liability dollarization of the domestic banking system represents a source of vulnerability for emerging market countries. The root cause is a lack of faith in the domestic currency, which ultimately stems from the belief that the government will not follow policies that promote long-run currency stability. This paper presents a model in which government myopia determines the unofficial dollarization of bank credit. Specifically, myopic politicians will choose low interest rates to expand short-run output in order to get re-elected, but this choice has the long-run consequence of increasing dollar lending. Increased liability dollarization is shown to force the hand of future decision-makers into choosing fixed exchange rates because of the fear that large depreciations will destroy balance sheets. The results imply that institutional reforms are necessary to reverse liability dollarization.     

人民币已进入了长期升值预期的阶段了吗?

近来 ,关于人民币汇率问题的议论成了社会热门话题 ,但却缺少真正从理论或实证方面严肃分析人民币汇率问题的讨论。本文从一个随机的开放经济模型出发 ,探讨了汇率决定的机制 ,基本结论是 ,像中国这样的发展中的国家 ,虽然经济保持长期高增长 ,但因增长的不稳定性与市场风险较大 ,其货币在相当长的时期都存在贬值预期 ,只有在经济增长风险降到一定水平后才可能产生升值预期 ,而目前中国并未达到这一水平。所以 ,目前人民币的升值压力并不是长期的 ,而只是一些利益集团的短期行为     

Macroeconomic Fragility and Exchange Rate Vulnerability: A Cautionary Record of Transition Economies

The interaction between the exchange rate regime and macroeconomic stabilization in several transition economies during 1990–1996 was influenced by the persistence of high inflation rates and the initial disequilibrium between the highly undervalued nominal exchange rates in relation to their purchasing power parity estimates. Policymakers generally adopted the flexible (nominal) exchange rate regimes for manipulating real exchange rates with a view to correcting the exchange rate disequilibrium and conveying inflation control signals. The rates of real appreciation were higher in the earlier years of high inflation rates. By 1996, lower inflation rates required less currency appreciations thereby reducing the negative impact of the latter on trade competitiveness. However, the persistence of unwarranted interest rate differentials, a consequence of the domination of monetary control over prudent fiscal management, and the associated inflows of foreign funds put an upward pressure on exchange rates exacerbating trade competitiveness. The transition record suggests that innovative exchange rate arrangements can provide only a brief interval during which sound fiscal discipline needs to be put in place for controlling inflation.J. Comp. Econom.,December 1998, 26(4), pp. 621–641. Columbia University, New York, New York 10027.     

Transmission of monetary policy and exchange rate shocks under foreign currency lending

This paper analyses the differences in reaction of domestic and foreign currency lending to monetary and exchange rate shocks, using a panel VAR model estimated for the three biggest Central and Eastern European countries (Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary). Our results point toward a drop in domestic currency loans and an increase of foreign currency credit in reaction to monetary policy tightening in Poland and Hungary, suggesting that the presence of foreign currency debt weakens the transmission of monetary policy. A currency depreciation shock leads to an initial decline in foreign currency lending, but also in loans denominated in domestic currency as central banks react to a weaker exchange rate by increasing the interest rates. However, after several quarters, credit in foreign currency accelerates, indicating that borrowers start using it to substitute for depressed domestic currency lending.     

INFLATION STABILIZATION AND NOMINAL ANCHORS

This paper analyzes the choice of a nominal anchor in disinflation programs in chronic inflation countries. Both theory and evidence suggest several conclusions. (i) The recessionary effects associated with disinflation appear in the early stages of money-based programs but only in the late stages of exchange rate-based programs. (ii) Lack of credibility is more disruptive under fixed exchange rates than under floating exchange rates. (iii) Attempting to pursue a disinflationary policy while maintaining a given level of the real exchange rate is likely to be self-defeating. (iv) A high degree of currency substitution favors the exchange rate as the nominal anchor.