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Western Hemisphere > Argentina

You are looking at 1 - 10 of 21 items for :

  • Type: Journal Issue x
  • Financial Aspects of Economic Integration x
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Cover IMF Working Papers
Cross-Border Payments Integration in Latin America and the Caribbean
Dimitris Drakopoulos
,
Yibin Mu
,
Dmitry Vasilyev
, and
Mauricio Villafuerte
Cross-border payment inefficiencies are a significant barrier to trade both within Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and between LAC and other regions. This paper provides a comprehensive review of historical efforts undertaken by various countries within the LAC region to address these challenges. We also explore the potential of recent financial innovations, such as digital currencies and blockchain technology, to enhance cross-border payments. While new technologies do not substitute for prudent and credible macroeconomic policies, leveraging these technologies can help LAC countries reduce transaction costs and times, thus enhancing economic efficiency and fostering deeper regional and global trade relationships.
Keywords:
Cross-Border Payments; Financial Innovation; International Trade; Economic Integration.; LAC payment infrastructure; payment arrangement; cross-border payment inefficiency; integration in Latin America and the Caribbean; cross-border payments integration; Payment systems; Currencies; Financial inclusion; Anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT); Caribbean; Central America; South America; Global; East Asia
Cover IMF Working Papers
Sovereign Debt
Mr. Leonardo Martinez
,
Mr. Francisco Roch
,
Francisco Roldán
, and
Mr. Jeromin Zettelmeyer
This paper surveys the literature on sovereign debt from the perspective of understanding how sovereign debt differs from privately issue debt, and why sovereign debt is deemed safe in some countries but risky in others. The answers relate to the unique power of the sovereign. One the one hand, a sovereign has the power to tax, making debt relatively safe; on the other, it also has control over its territory and most of its assets, making debt enforcement difficult. The paper discusses debt contracts and the sovereign debt market, sovereign debt restructurings, and the empirical and theoretical literatures on the costs and causes of defaults. It describes the adverse impact of sovereign default risk on the issuing countries and what explains this impact. The survey concludes with a discussion of policy options to reduce sovereign risk, including fiscal frameworks that act as commitment devices, state-contingent debt, and independent and credible monetary policy.
Keywords:
Sovereign Debt; Safe Debt; Debt Default; Debt Restructuring; Costs of Sovereign Default; Political Defaults; Fiscal Frameworks; State Contingent Debt; Original Sin; debt contract; short-term debt; market value; sovereign default; capital market exclusion; default decision; default event; payment terms; liquid asset; Securities markets; Fiscal rules; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
International Financial Integration and Funding Risks: Bank-Level Evidence from Latin America
Mr. Luis Catão
,
Valeriya Dinger
, and
Daniel Marcel te Kaat
Using a sample of over 700 banks in Latin America, we show that international financial liberalization lowers bank capital ratios and increases the shares of short-term funding. Following liberalization, large banks substitute interbank borrowing for equity and long-term funding, whereas small banks increase the proportions of retail funding in their liabilities, which have been particularly vulnerable to flight-to-quality during periods of financial distress in much of Latin America. We also find evidence that riskier bank funding in the aftermath of financial liberalizations is exacerbated by asymmetric information, which rises on geographical distance and the opacity of balance sheets.
Keywords:
WP; funding structure; liberalization index; financial liberalization; funding ratio; bank control; funding decision; Bank Capital Structure; International Capital Flows; bank funding; funding risk; bank size; Capital account; Financial integration; Bank deposits; Deposit insurance; Global; Central and Eastern Europe
Cover Independent Evaluation Office Annual Report 2017
Independent Evaluation Office Annual Report 2017
International Monetary Fund. Independent Evaluation Office

Abstract

This paper discusses that the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) has also launched three new evaluations—which will analyze the IMF’s role on fragile states, its financial surveillance activities, and its advice on unconventional monetary policies—and two evaluation updates—which will look into the IMF’s exchange rate policy advice and structural conditionality. The evaluation found that, for the most part, the IMF’s euro area surveillance identified the right issues during the pre-crisis period but did not foresee the magnitude of the risks that would later become paramount. The IMF’s surveillance of the financial regulatory architecture was generally of high quality, but staff, along with most other experts, missed the buildup of banking system risks in some countries. The report found several issues with the way decision making was managed by the IMF. In May 2010, the IMF Executive Board approved a decision to provide exceptional access financing to Greece without seeking preemptive debt restructuring, even though its sovereign debt was not deemed sustainable with a high probability.

Keywords:
IEOR; IEO; background color; IEO Evaluation; IEO Director; staff allocation; discretionary budget; seminar program; Budget planning and preparation; Global financial crisis of 2008-2009; Civil society organizations; Exchange rate policy; Communications in revenue administration; Global; Sub-Saharan Africa; Caribbean; IMF surveillance; IEO staff survey; IMF exchange rate Policy advice; information request; Poverty reduction strategy; Unconventional monetary policies; Monetary unions
Cover IMF Working Papers
Bank Ownership: Trends and Implications
Robert Cull
,
Mr. Maria Soledad Martinez Peria
, and
Jeanne Verrier
This paper presents recent trends in bank ownership across countries and summarizes the evidence regarding the implications of bank ownership structure for bank performance and competition, financial stability, and access to finance. The evidence reviewed suggests that foreign-owned banks are more efficient than domestic banks in developing countries, promote competition in host banking sectors, and help stabilize credit when host countries face idiosyncratic shocks. But there are tradeoffs, since foreign-owned banks can transmit external shocks and might not always expand access to credit. The record on the impact of government bank ownership suggests few benefits, especially for developing countries.
Keywords:
WP; bank ownership; government-owned bank; bank participation; foreign bank; government bank lending; ownership structure; bank governance; financial globalization; foreign banks; state-owned banks; privatization; government ownership; bank share; government bank participation; Commercial banks; Bank credit; Credit; Competition; Central and Eastern Europe; South Asia; Eastern Europe; Global; Central Asia
Cover IMF Working Papers
Banks, Government Bonds, and Default: What do the Data Say?
Nicola Gennaioli
,
Alberto Martin
, and
Stefano Rossi
We analyze holdings of public bonds by over 20,000 banks in 191 countries, and the role of these bonds in 20 sovereign defaults over 1998-2012. Banks hold many public bonds (on average 9% of their assets), particularly in less financially-developed countries. During sovereign defaults, banks increase their exposure to public bonds, especially large banks and when expected bond returns are high. At the bank level, bondholdings correlate negatively with subsequent lending during sovereign defaults. This correlation is mostly due to bonds acquired in pre-default years. These findings shed light on alternative theories of the sovereign default-banking crisis nexus.
Keywords:
WP; bank bondholdings; central bank; balance sheet; bank characteristic; Sovereign Risk; Sovereign Default; Government Bonds; bondholdings correspond; loan-to-asset ratio; Eurozone bank; bank level; bank assets; Bonds; Sovereign bonds; Loans; Stress testing; Europe
Cover IMF Working Papers
Sustaining Latin America's Resurgence: Some Historical Perspectives
Mr. Anoop Singh
and
Mr. Martin D. Cerisola
This paper looks at the historical lessons that might serve to entrech Latin America's newly resurgent growth phase. It briefly reviews the post-World War II experiences in Latin America and Asia, focusing on the conditions that favored capital accumulation and productivity growth in the faster growing economies. Among these, the paper highlights the importance of stable macroeconomic policies, especially fiscal policy.
Keywords:
WP; foreign direct investment; country authorities; central bank; inflation targeting; private sector; Macroeconomic Policy; Policy Design and Consistency; Economic Growth; Open Economies; reforming country; per capita income; country risk; fiscal policy volatility; physical capital; Latin American country; exchange rate regime; government intervention; Chile's policy framework; a number of country; competitive price; Exchange rate arrangements; Productivity; Capital accumulation; Asia and Pacific; East Asia; Global
Cover IMF Policy Discussion Papers
Vanishing Contagion?
Mr. Paolo Mauro
,
Tatiana Didier
, and
Mr. Sergio L. Schmukler
While a number of emerging market crises were characterized by widespread contagion during the 1990s, more recent crises (notably, in Argentina) have been mostly contained within national borders. This has led some observers to wonder whether contagion might have become a feature of the past, with markets now better discriminating between countries with good and bad fundamentals. This paper argues that a prudent working assumption is that contagion has not vanished permanently. Available data do not seem to point to a disappearance of the main channels that contribute to transmitting crises across countries. Moreover, anticipation of the Argentine crisis by international investors may help explain the recent absence of contagion.
Keywords:
PDP; crisis; investor; mutual fund; market price; net; crises; international integration; international transmission of shocks; emerging market country; mutual fund holding; ERM crisis; crisis economy; crisis month; Mutual funds; Emerging and frontier financial markets; Hedge funds; Stock markets; East Asia; Eastern Europe
Cover IMF Working Papers
Multinational Affiliates and Local Financial Markets
Selin Sayek
,
Mr. Alexander Lehmann
, and
Hyoung Goo Kang
We use data on the sources of debt finance of U.S. majority-owned foreign affiliates in 53 countries over the period 1983 to 2001 to examine the role of financial market development, and exposure to host country-specific risk on the financing choices of these affiliates. We find that total balance sheets are about four times as large as the cross-border component of foreign direct investment (FDI). The extent of financial leverage through local debt is positively related to host-country corporate tax rates, exchange rate variability, local currency-denominated sales, and financial development. Factors that further the role of local debt reduce that of parent company debt, and through this substitution overall leverage increases.
Keywords:
WP; debt; market; parent company; Multinational companies; financial development; capital structure; parent-company debt; equity ratio; exchange rate variability; FDI finance; debt to asset ratio; parent debt; cross-border FDI debt; financial leverage; Exchange rates; Currencies; Financial sector development; Foreign direct investment; Financial statements
Cover IMF Working Papers
Financial Integration and Macroeconomic Volatility
Mr. Marco Terrones
,
Mr. Eswar S Prasad
, and
Mr. Ayhan Kose
This paper examines the impact of international financial integration on macroeconomic volatility in a large group of industrial and developing economies over the period 1960-99. We report two major results: First, while the volatility of output growth has, on average, declined in the 1990s relative to the three preceding decades, we also document that, on average, the volatility of consumption growth relative to that of income growth has increased for more financially integrated developing economies in the 1990s. Second, increasing financial openness is associated with rising relative volatility of consumption, but only up to a certain threshold. The benefits of financial integration in terms of improved risk-sharing and consumption-smoothing possibilities appear to accrue only beyond this threshold.
Keywords:
WP; consumption volatility; economy; Financial Globalization; Macroeconomic Fluctuations; Income and Consumption Volatility; International Risk Sharing; income volatility; terms of trade shock; consumption-smoothing opportunity; terms of trade volatility; growth volatility; Consumption; Financial integration; Income; Capital flows; Terms of trade; Global