Narrow Your Choices

Refine By Countries

Refine By Series

Refine By Language

Refine By Date

—

Refine By IMF Taxonomy

Refine By JEL Taxonomy

Refine by LOC Taxonomy

Refine By THEMA Taxonomy

  • Print
  • Save

Business and Economics > Finance: General

You are looking at 1 - 10 of 981 items for :

  • Type: Journal Issue x
  • Foreign Exchange x
Clear All Modify Search
Cover Technical Assistance Reports
Colombia: Technical Assistance Report-Foreign Exchange Market Development and Regulatory Framework Review
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 República to support the authorities in reviewing the regulatory framework and formulating development strategies for the foreign exchange market.
Keywords:
Currency internationalization; regulatory framework; foreign exchange market development; Colombia.; FX Market development strategy; FX channeling; Banco de la República; IMF's Monetary; Currency markets; Currencies; Exchange rate risk; Exchange rates; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
South Africa: 2024 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for South Africa
International Monetary Fund. African Dept.
A new Government of National Unity (GNU) has been in place since June 2024, which the markets have welcomed. The GNU faces difficult challenges: declining GDP per capita, high unemployment, poverty and inequality, and rising public debt and debt service, which crowd out other urgent spending needs. Its fresh mandate represents an opportunity to pursue ambitious reforms to safeguard macroeconomic stability and address these challenges, placing the economy on a path toward higher, more inclusive, and greener growth.
Keywords:
support policy credibility; headline inflation; debt management strategy; Policy recommendation; implementation framework; Policy credibility; Government debt management; Exchange rate arrangements; Currency markets; Africa; Global; private sector; short-term debt; Financial sector stability; Inflation
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Albania: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
2024 Selected Issues
Keywords:
risk result; market liquidity; Albanian banking sector; banks' liquidity resilience; LCR value; Currency markets; Exchange rates; Commercial banks; Liquidity requirements; Capital adequacy requirements; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Portfolio Inertia and Expected Excess Returns in Currency Markets: Evidence from Advanced Economies
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.
Keywords:
Exchange Rates; Portfolio Balance; Uncovered Interest Parity; Portfolio Adjustment Costs; Risk Premium; Currency Markets; Expected Returns; excess return; portfolio adjustment; adjustment cost; portfolio balance framework; portfolio Inertia; Exchange rate adjustments; Return on investment; Currencies; Interest rate parity; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Competitiveness and Productivity in the Baltics: Common Shocks, Different Implications
Saioa Armendariz
,
Carlos de Resende
,
Alice Fan
,
Gianluigi Ferrucci
,
Bingjie Hu
,
Sadhna Naik
, and
Can Ugur
This paper examines competitiveness and productivity in the Baltics. Focusing on recent developments, it asks why Russia’s war in Ukraine led to a prolonged recession and strong decline in competitiveness in Estonia, while Latvia and Lithuania shielded their economies more effectively. The paper starts by documenting a deterioration in export performance across the region. Using a constant share decomposition, it finds that, unlike in Latvia and Lithuania, Estonia’s declining export share has been mainly linked to a reduction in the ‘intensive margin’—a sign of weakening external competitiveness and declining relative productivity. Multivariate filtering techniques and estimates of the real effective exchange rates based on historical productivity trends, consistent with Balassa-Samuelson, confirm that differences in long-term total factor productivity growth have affected external competitiveness. While Estonia’s post-GFC slowdown in productivity growth and real exchange rate appreciation have eroded its competitive edge, Latvia and Lithuania have shown greater resilience, aided by more balanced real effective exchange rates and, for Lithuania, stronger corporate balance sheets. A micro-econometric analysis further reveals that resource misallocation, particularly in the services sector, has been a key driver of declining productivity in the region. These findings underscore the need for targeted reforms to improve allocative efficiency, boost productivity, and restore competitiveness in the Baltic region.
Keywords:
Export shares; Competitiveness; Productivity; Baltics; export share; productivity in the Baltic; resource misallocation; productivity trend; TFP dynamics; TFP deceleration; Total factor productivity; Real effective exchange rates; Real exchange rates; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Republic of Tajikistan: First Review Under the Policy Coordination Instrument and Request for Modification of a Quantitative Target and a Reform Target-Press Release and Staff Report
International Monetary Fund. Middle East and Central Asia Dept.
Tajikistan has continued to navigate the challenging external environment well. Real GDP rose 8.4 percent during January-September 2024, while inflation remained well-contained at 3.1 percent (y/y) in September. Robust remittances have boosted the external position, with FX reserves at more than 7 months’ import coverage, while prudent fiscal implementation has anchored a continued reduction in public debt. The banking sector remains stable amid steady growth in credit aggregates. Geopolitical fragmentation and regional tensions create uncertainty over the medium-term outlook.
Keywords:
NBT regulation; asset declaration regime; procurement authorities; NBT Law; government approval; Government debt management; Fiscal risks; Monetary base; Global; Central Asia
Cover IMF Working Papers
Foreign Exchange Intervention Under the Integrated Policy Framework: The Case of India
Jesper Lindé
,
Patrick Schneider
,
Nujin Suphaphiphat
, and
Hou Wang
This paper analyzes the effectiveness of foreign exchange intervention (FXI) in mitigating economic and financial shocks in India by applying the Integrated Policy Framework (IPF). It highlights how FXI can be a complementary tool in mitigating the tradeoff between output and inflation, specifically under large economic shocks amid temporarily shallow FX markets. The paper indicates that while FXI can soften adverse impacts on domestic demand and output during severe risk-off shocks, its benefits under normal conditions with liquid FX markets are limited.
Keywords:
Integrated policy framework; foreign exchange intervention; risk-off shocks; EM FX intervention proxy; RBI FX intervention; FX Market development; OTC FX turnover; rate Policy; Currency markets; Inflation; Central bank policy rate; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Identifying Determinants of FX Stability in Mozambique
Samuel Mann
and
Alexis Meyer-Cirkel
In early 2021, as monetary policy tightening reversed a multi-year trend of Metical depreciation, the exchange rate vis-à-vis the US dollar de facto stabilized. This report discusses elements of the market structure and other drivers of Metical stability since mid-2021. The particularities of Mozambique, a small open economy with an export sector that has a strong foreign currency cost structure, provide important insights into that discussion, as does the structure and development of the Foreign Exchange (FX) market.
Keywords:
Mozambique; Foreign Exchange Stability; Exchange Rate Regimes; Central Bank Policy; FX Market Structure; Market Intervention; FX stability; cost structure; development of the foreign exchange; reference rate; MZN exchange rate fluctuation; market participant; FX supply; Exchange rates; Currency markets; Currencies; Imports; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia: First Review Under the Extended Credit Facility Arrangement, Request for Modification of Performance Criteria, and Financing Assurances Review-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
International Monetary Fund. African Dept.
This paper presents Ethiopia’s First Review under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) Arrangement, Request for Modification of Performance Criteria, and Financing Assurances Review. The Ethiopian authorities have shown strong commitment to their homegrown economic reform program. Implementation of ECF-supported reforms is advancing well. The transition to a market-determined exchange rate has been progressing well with a significant narrowing of the spread between the parallel and official market rate and no signs of significant inflationary pressures, albeit the supply of foreign exchange to the market has picked up more slowly than anticipated with some unmet demand persisting. Program performance has been in line with program commitments and all quantitative performance criteria were met, with an overperformance in the net international reserves target. Four out of five structural benchmarks (SBs) were met. The SB on the Emergency Liquidity Assistance framework was missed but is expected to be implemented in October, after incorporating feedback from IMF staff.
Keywords:
interest rate; IMF policy requirement; authorities' fiscal policy; authorities' monetary policy reform; FX market development; exchange market policy; ECF arrangement; Policy discussion; Exchange rates; Currency markets; Commercial banks; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Republic of Türkiye: 2024 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for the Republic of Türkiye
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
The 2024 Article IV Consultation highlights that a decisive shift in economic policies over the past year has tightened Türkiye’s overall policy stance. A significant tightening of macroeconomic policy since mid-2023 has substantially reduced crisis risks. Tighter financial conditions are weighing on domestic demand and inflation has fallen. Tax and expenditure measures partly dampened an expansionary fiscal impulse and the commitment to stronger incomes policies has strengthened credibility. The policy turnaround has reduced economic imbalances and revived confidence. Headline inflation has fallen as tighter financial conditions are weighing on domestic demand. Under the authorities’ gradual policy adjustment, inflation is expected to further decline. Risks around the baseline are significant and tilted to the downside. They include stronger-than-expected wage and price inertia, a reversal of capital flows, higher global energy prices, and escalating geopolitical tensions. Significant financial and external vulnerabilities remain. The authorities’ gradual approach to fighting inflation prolongs the period during which risks might occur.
Keywords:
inflation expectation; IFC portfolio implementation; WB program; WBG portfolio; authorities project growth; Inflation; Central bank policy rate; Fiscal stance; Minimum wages; Global