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Western Hemisphere > Argentina

You are looking at 1 - 8 of 8 items for :

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Cover IMF Working Papers
Identifying Optimal Indicators and Lag Terms for Nowcasting Models
Jing Xie
Many central banks and government agencies use nowcasting techniques to obtain policy relevant information about the business cycle. Existing nowcasting methods, however, have two critical shortcomings for this purpose. First, in contrast to machine-learning models, they do not provide much if any guidance on selecting the best explantory variables (both high- and low-frequency indicators) from the (typically) larger set of variables available to the nowcaster. Second, in addition to the selection of explanatory variables, the order of the autoregression and moving average terms to use in the baseline nowcasting regression is often set arbitrarily. This paper proposes a simple procedure that simultaneously selects the optimal indicators and ARIMA(p,q) terms for the baseline nowcasting regression. The proposed AS-ARIMAX (Adjusted Stepwise Autoregressive Moving Average methods with exogenous variables) approach significantly reduces out-of-sample root mean square error for nowcasts of real GDP of six countries, including India, Argentina, Australia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Keywords:
Nowcasting; Mixed Frequency; Forecasting; Business Cycles; selection procedure; Annex I. AS-ARIMAX procedure; nowcasting method; evaluation comparison; baseline model; Global
Cover Regional Economic Outlook, October 2020, Western Hemisphere
Regional Economic Outlook, October 2020, Western Hemisphere
Pandemic Persistence Clouds the Recovery
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.

Abstract

The pandemic continues to spread in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), but economic activity is picking up. After a deep contraction in April, activity started recovering in May, as lockdowns were gradually eased, consumers and firms adapted to social distancing, some countries introduced sizable policy support, and global activity strengthened.

Keywords:
pandemic; lockdowns; recovery; reopening; public health; REO; IMF staff calculation; nominal GDP; trading partner; world bank LAC estimate; hard currency; potential GDP
Cover Regional Economic Outlook, October 2020, Western Hemisphere
Regional Economic Outlook, October 2020, Western Hemisphere
Pandemic Persistence Clouds the Recovery
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.

Abstract

The pandemic continues to spread in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), but economic activity is picking up. After a deep contraction in April, activity started recovering in May, as lockdowns were gradually eased, consumers and firms adapted to social distancing, some countries introduced sizable policy support, and global activity strengthened.

Keywords:
pandemic; lockdowns; recovery; reopening; public health; REO; IMF staff calculation; nominal GDP; trading partner; world bank LAC estimate; hard currency; potential GDP
Cover Regional Economic Outlook, October 2020, Western Hemisphere
Regional Economic Outlook, October 2020, Western Hemisphere
Pandemic Persistence Clouds the Recovery
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.

Abstract

The pandemic continues to spread in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), but economic activity is picking up. After a deep contraction in April, activity started recovering in May, as lockdowns were gradually eased, consumers and firms adapted to social distancing, some countries introduced sizable policy support, and global activity strengthened.

Keywords:
pandemic; lockdowns; recovery; reopening; public health; REO; IMF staff calculation; nominal GDP; trading partner; world bank LAC estimate; hard currency; potential GDP; banking sector; fiscal policy; COVID-19; Debt restructuring; Securities markets; Caribbean; Global; Central America
Cover IMF Working Papers
Investor Sentiment, Sovereign Debt Mispricing, and Economic Outcomes
Mr. Ramzy Al Amine
and
Tim Willems
We find that countries which are able to borrow at spreads that seem low given fundamentals (for example because investors take a bullish view on a country's future), are more likely to develop economic difficulties later on. We obtain this result through a two-stage procedure, where a first regression links sovereign spreads to fundamentals, after which residuals from this regression are deployed in a second stage to assess their impact on future outcomes (real GDP growth and the occurrence of fiscal crises). We confirm the relevance of past sovereign debt mispricing in several out-of-sample exercises, where they reduce the RMSE of real GDP growth forecasts by as much as 15 percent. This provides strong support for theories of sentiment affecting the business cycle. Our findings also suggest that countries shouldn't solely rely on spread levels when determining their fiscal strategy; underlying fundamentals should inform policy as well, since historical relationships between spreads and fundamentals often continue to apply in the medium-to-long run.
Keywords:
WP; sub; cross-validation procedure; sentiment; sovereign debt; sovereign spreads; debt crises; over-optimism; growth forecasting; real GDP growth; credit rating; growth forecast; spread discount; Current account deficits; Government consumption; Southern Europe; leave-one-out procedure; spreads data; investor sentiment
Cover IMF Working Papers
Accounting for Output Drops in Latin America
Mr. Ruy Lama
This paper evaluates what type of models can account for the recent episodes of output drops in Latin America. I develop an open economy version of the business cycle accounting methodology (Chari, Kehoe, and McGrattan, 2007) in which output fluctuations are decomposed into four sources: total factor productivity (TFP), a labor wedge, a capital wedge, and a bond wedge. The paper shows that the most promising models are the ones that induce fluctuations of TFP and the labor wedge. On the other hand, models of fnancial frictions that translate into a bond or capital wedge are not successful in explaining output drops in Latin America. The paper also discusses the implications of these results for policy analysis using alternative DSGE models.
Keywords:
WP; open economy; labor wedge; working capital
Cover IMF Working Papers
Bolivia: The Hydrocarbons Boom and the Risk of Dutch Disease
Mr. Eugenio M Cerutti
and
Mr. Mario Mansilla
The hydrocarbons sector has become one of the most dynamic economic activities in the Bolivian economy and the main driver of improved export performance and international reserve accumulation. The central role of the hydrocarbons sector in the economy is attributable to the high levels of investment made in the late 1990s, which permitted much higher production levels, particularly of natural gas. However those positive developments in the hydrocarbons sector have given rise to the possibility of a new case of "Dutch disease." While Bolivia's economy has already seen many benefits from its higher gas exports, especially in terms of lower external vulnerability and improved fiscal stance, the new resources could also limit the development of other economic sectors in terms of output and factor income. This paper explores the transmission channels of Dutch disease, as well as its main symptom, the appreciation of the real exchange rate
Keywords:
WP; government; price; effect; export; YPFB
Cover IMF Working Papers
In Search of Coincident and Leading Indicators of Economic Activity in Argentina
Mr. Alejandro Simone
Time series on economic activity in developing countries, in particular real GDP, are reported with important lags. Therefore, it is useful to construct indicators that coincide or lead the actual direction and level of economic activity. A general methodology to construct these indicators is proposed and adapted for Argentina. Three coincident indicators could be constructed, but no reliable leading indicator could be found. From an econometric standpoint, the coincident indicators produce satisfactory point estimates of real GDP. The series that enter the indicator are broadly consistent with what many economists believe is the main source of real GDP fluctuations in Argentina: shocks to the capital account of the balance of payments. This enhances the confidence in the econometric results.
Keywords:
WP; time series; absolute deviation; growth rate; estimation result; Argentina; leading indicators; candidate series; model construction mechanism; point estimate; unrestricted model; Cyclical indicators; Business cycles; Econometric models