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International Monetary Fund. Monetary and Capital Markets Department
At the request of Bank of Botswana, a Technical Assistance mission from the Monetary and Capital Markets (MCM) Department visited Gaborone, Botswana during May 27–31, 2024, to assist the authorities in enhancing their forecasting and policy analysis system (FPAS). The mission assessed and advised on both near-term and medium-term forecasting tools and models currently used by the Bank of Botswana. The mission team helped create a new centralized database and introduced a new flexible platform with a suite of models that expands and complements existing near-term forecasting models. The mission team also improved the medium-term forecasting framework by reviewing model calibration, introducing a fiscal block, and recommending further adjustments.
International Monetary Fund. Monetary and Capital Markets Department
This report provides an overview of the technical assistance provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to the Banco de la RepĂşblica to support the authorities in reviewing the regulatory framework and formulating development strategies for the foreign exchange market.
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
Economic activity has slowed reflecting falling natural gas production, lower public investment execution, financial volatility, and disruptions due to socio-political tensions. Bolivia’s inflation rate remains one of the lowest in the region, sustained by price controls and costly subsidies. The combination of sizable fiscal imbalances, declining natural gas exports, a loss of access to international markets, and the ongoing monetization of the deficit in the context of an exchange rate peg have eroded competitiveness, depleted reserves, and left Bolivia in a precarious position.
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
Recent developments. Haiti is facing exceptionally challenging circumstances. The deteriorating security environment, which reached crisis proportions in the first few months of 2024, has continued to worsen, disrupting supply chains (particularly energy and basic services) and feeding inflationary pressures. In November 2024, Haiti's transitional Presidential Council designated Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé to form a new government with a time-bound mandate through next elections. The government has a narrow but important window of opportunity to implement reforms that could help restore the country’s potential over the medium term.
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
The authorities’ commitment to a range of policy reforms continues to strengthen macroeconomic stability. The economy is growing, inflation is receding, donor support is increasing, the public debt is declining, and international bond spreads are at historic lows. The Final Investment Decision (FID) to develop a large offshore oil field was announced on October 1. Moody’s has upgraded Suriname’s sovereign debt rating and changed the outlook to positive.
Bas B. Bakker
The economic literature has long attributed non-zero expected excess returns in currency markets to time-varying risk premiums demanded by risk-averse investors. This paper, building on Bacchetta and van Wincoop's (2021) portfolio balance framework, shows that such returns can also arise when investors are risk-neutral but face portfolio adjustment costs. Models with adjustment costs but no risk aversion predict a negative correlation between exchange rate levels and expected excess returns, while models with risk aversion but no adjustment costs predict a positive one. Using data from nine inflation targeting economies with floating exchange rates (2000–2024), we find strong empirical support for the adjustment costs framework. The negative correlation persists even during periods of low market stress, further evidence that portfolio adjustment costs, not risk premium shocks, drive the link between exchange rates and excess returns. Our model predicts that one-year expected excess returns should have predictive power for multi-year returns, with longer-term expected returns as increasing multiples of short-term expectations, and the predictive power strengthening with the horizon. We confirm these findings empirically. We also examine scenarios combining risk aversion and adjustment costs, showing that sufficiently high adjustment costs are essential to generate the observed negative relationship.These findings provide a simpler, testable alternative to literature relying on assumptions about unobservable factors like time-varying risk premiums, intermediary constraints, or noise trader activity.
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
On March 25, 2022, the IMF Executive Board approved a 30-month arrangement for Argentina supported by the Extended Fund Facility (2022 EFF). Amounting to US$44 billion (1,001 percent of quota), it was the second largest non-precautionary arrangement in the Fund’s history after the 2018 Stand-by Arrangement for Argentina (2018 SBA). Of the planned 10 reviews, eight were completed. The arrangement is set to expire at end-2024.
Pamela Cardozo
,
Andrés Fernández
,
Jerzy Jiang
, and
Felipe D Rojas
Cross-border crypto flows (CBCFs) are not systematically measured and are poorly understood. After defining CBCFs and the channels through which they materialize, we review the various approaches to measure them through two case studies. We also quantify the dynamics and drivers of CBCFs through a push/pull factor SVAR model. We find an increasingly large volume of CBCFs, although considerable heterogeneity remains across estimates. Furthermore, CBCFs are more sensitive to push factors than regular capital flows. Our findings call for accurate and comprehensive measurement and monitoring of CBCFs and the need to rethink capital account restrictions in a more digitalized world.
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
This page discusses Honduras’ First and Second Reviews under the Extended Fund Facility and the Extended Credit Facility Arrangements, and Requests for Waivers of Nonobservance of Performance Criteria and Rephasing of Purchases. The Honduran economy remains resilient, despite external and climate shocks. The authorities have adopted measures to reduce electricity losses and domestic arrears of the state-owned electricity company. Strengthened budget execution, energy sector reforms, proactive implementation of monetary and exchange rate policies, and intensified efforts to tackle long-standing structural bottlenecks remain key to safeguard macroeconomic stability and to promote inclusive and sustained growth. The increasing frequency of climate change-related events calls for accelerating the implementation of climate adaptation policies. In order to support these efforts, the authorities have requested an arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility. Close engagement with IMF staff on this area will continue.