Does Foreign Exchange Intervention Work?
Does Foreign Exchange Intervention Work?

Author: Kathryn M. Dominguez

Publisher: Peterson Institute for International Economics

Published: 1993

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13:

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How much impact on exchange rates do central banks have when they buy and sell currencies? According to many analysts, such intervention has no independent impact. This book challenges the conventional wisdom, demonstrating that such intervention can be an effective and extremely important tool for policymakers. Using previously unavailable daily intervention data from the US Federal Reserve and German Bundesbank, the authors show that even "sterilized" intervention -intervention that entails no corresponding changes in monetary policy- has a significant effect. A key element is whether the intervention is known to the public: widespread market awareness of the activity adds substantially to its payoff. Authors Dominguez and Frankel draw implications for intervention policy and its role in international economic policy coordination.

Foreign Exchange Intervention: A Dataset of Public Data and Proxies
Foreign Exchange Intervention: A Dataset of Public Data and Proxies

Author: Gustavo Adler

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2021-02-19

Total Pages: 67

ISBN-13: 1513566679

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Foreign exchange intervention (FXI) is a highly debated topic. Yet, comprehensive and comparable data on FXI is hard to find. This paper provides a new dataset of FXI covering a large number of countries over the period 2000-20 at monthly and quarterly frequencies. It includes publicly available data for about 40 countries and carefully constructed proxies for 122 countries. Proxies are focused on both spot and derivative transactions that alter the central bank’s foreign currency position and account for a wide range of central bank operations, including vis-à-vis residents, the first proxy to do so to our knowledge. The paper discusses the merits of the new proxy relative to coarser measures traditionally used like the change in reserves, and potential definitional differences with published data. The paper also presents stylized facts using our newly constructed FXI proxies.

Does Foreign Exchange Intervention Work?
Does Foreign Exchange Intervention Work?

Author: Kathryn M. Dominguez

Publisher: Peterson Institute for International Economics

Published: 1993

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

How much impact on exchange rates do central banks have when they buy and sell currencies? According to many analysts, such intervention has no independent impact. This book challenges the conventional wisdom, demonstrating that such intervention can be an effective and extremely important tool for policymakers. Using previously unavailable daily intervention data from the US Federal Reserve and German Bundesbank, the authors show that even "sterilized" intervention -intervention that entails no corresponding changes in monetary policy- has a significant effect. A key element is whether the intervention is known to the public: widespread market awareness of the activity adds substantially to its payoff. Authors Dominguez and Frankel draw implications for intervention policy and its role in international economic policy coordination.

The Cost of Foreign Exchange Intervention
The Cost of Foreign Exchange Intervention

Author: Gustavo Adler

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2016-04-12

Total Pages: 37

ISBN-13: 148433230X

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The accumulation of large foreign asset positions by many central banks through sustained foreign exchange (FX) intervention has raised questions about its associated fiscal costs. This paper clarifies conceptual issues regarding how to measure these costs both from an ex-post and an ex-ante (relevant for decision making) perspective, and estimates both marginal and total costs for 73 countries over the period 2002-13. We find ex-ante marginal costs for the median emerging market economy (EME) in the inter-quartile range of 2-5.5 percent per year; while ex-ante total costs (of sustaining FX positions) in the range of 0.2-0.7 percent of GDP per year for light interveners and 0.3-1.2 percent of GDP per year for heavy interveners. These estimates indicate that fiscal costs of sustained FX intervention (via expanding central bank balance sheets) are not negligible.

Unveiling the Effects of Foreign Exchange Intervention
Unveiling the Effects of Foreign Exchange Intervention

Author: Gustavo Adler

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2015-06-23

Total Pages: 42

ISBN-13: 1513534602

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We study the effect of foreign exchange intervention on the exchange rate relying on an instrumental-variables panel approach. We find robust evidence that intervention affects the level of the exchange rate in an economically meaningful way. A purchase of foreign currency of 1 percentage point of GDP causes a depreciation of the nominal and real exchange rates in the ranges of [1.7-2.0] percent and [1.4-1.7] percent respectively. The effects are found to be quite persistent. The paper also explores possible asymmetric effects, and whether effectiveness depends on the depth of domestic financial markets.

Can Foreign Exchange Intervention Stem Exchange Rate Pressures from Global Capital Flow Shocks?
Can Foreign Exchange Intervention Stem Exchange Rate Pressures from Global Capital Flow Shocks?

Author: Mr.Olivier J. Blanchard

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2015-07-16

Total Pages: 30

ISBN-13: 1513585843

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Many emerging market economies have relied on foreign exchange intervention (FXI) in response to gross capital inflows. In this paper, we study whether FXI has been an effective tool to dampen the effects of these inflows on the exchange rate. To deal with endogeneity issues, we look at the response of different countries to plausibly exogenous gross inflows, and explore the cross country variation of FXI and exchange rate responses. Consistent with the portfolio balance channel, we find that larger FXI leads to less exchange rate appreciation in response to gross inflows.

Strained Relations
Strained Relations

Author: Michael D. Bordo

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2015-03-02

Total Pages: 453

ISBN-13: 022605151X

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During the twentieth century, foreign-exchange intervention was sometimes used in an attempt to solve the fundamental trilemma of international finance, which holds that countries cannot simultaneously pursue independent monetary policies, stabilize their exchange rates, and benefit from free cross-border financial flows. Drawing on a trove of previously confidential data, Strained Relations reveals the evolution of US policy regarding currency market intervention, and its interaction with monetary policy. The authors consider how foreign-exchange intervention was affected by changing economic and institutional circumstances—most notably the abandonment of the international gold standard—and how political and bureaucratic factors affected this aspect of public policy.

Patterns of Foreign Exchange Intervention under Inflation Targeting
Patterns of Foreign Exchange Intervention under Inflation Targeting

Author: Gustavo Adler

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2020-05-29

Total Pages: 29

ISBN-13: 1513536451

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The paper documents the use of foreign exchange intervention (FXI) across countries and monetary regimes, with special attention to its use under inflation targeting (IT). We find significant differences between advanced and emerging market economies, with the former group conducting FXI limitedly and broadly symmetrically, while the use of this policy instrument in emerging market countries is pervasive and mostly asymmetric (biased towards purchasing foreign currency, even after taking into account precautionary motives). Within emerging markets, the use of FXI is common both under IT and non-IT regimes. We find no evidence of FXI being used in response to inflation developments, while there is strong evidence that FXI responds to exchange rates, indicating that IT central banks in EMDEs have dual inflation/exchange rate objectives. We also find a higher propensity to overshoot inflation targets in emerging market economies where FXI is more pervasive.

Official Intervention in the Foreign Exchange Market
Official Intervention in the Foreign Exchange Market

Author: Roberto Pereira Guimarães

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2003-07-01

Total Pages: 45

ISBN-13: 145185711X

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This paper offers guidance on the operational aspects of official intervention in the foreign exchange market, particularly in developing countries with flexible exchange rate regimes. A brief survey of the literature and country experience is followed by an analysis of the objectives, timing, amount, degree of transparency, and choice of markets and counterparties in conducting intervention. The analysis highlights the difficulty of detecting exchange rate misalignments and disorderly markets, and argues in favor of parsimony in official intervention. Determining the timing and amount of intervention is a highly subjective excercise, and some degree of discretion is almost necessary, though policy rules may serve as "rules of thumb."