IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/bfr/banfra/834.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Regional How Powerful is Unannounced, Sterilized Foreign Exchange Intervention?

Author

Listed:
  • Alain Naef
  • Jacob P. Weber

Abstract

Though most central banks actively intervene on the foreign exchange market, the literature offers mixed evidence on their effectiveness: particularly for unannounced interventions. We use new, declassified data from the archives of the Bank of England and the institutional features of the Bretton Woods era to estimate the effects of intervention on the exchange rate. We find that a purchase of pounds equivalent to 1% of the money supply causes a statistically significant, 4-5 basis point appreciation in the pound.

Suggested Citation

  • Alain Naef & Jacob P. Weber, 2021. "Regional How Powerful is Unannounced, Sterilized Foreign Exchange Intervention?," Working papers 834, Banque de France.
    • Handle: RePEc:bfr:banfra:834
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://publications.banque-france.fr/sites/default/files/medias/documents/wp834_0.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Achim Ahrens & Christian B. Hansen & Mark E. Schaffer, 2020. "lassopack: Model selection and prediction with regularized regression in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 20(1), pages 176-235, March.
    2. Daude, Christian & Levy Yeyati, Eduardo & Nagengast, Arne J., 2016. "On the effectiveness of exchange rate interventions in emerging markets," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 239-261.
    3. Neely, Christopher J., 2008. "Central bank authorities' beliefs about foreign exchange intervention," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 1-25, February.
    4. Medeiros, Marcelo C. & Mendes, Eduardo F., 2016. "ℓ1-regularization of high-dimensional time-series models with non-Gaussian and heteroskedastic errors," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 191(1), pages 255-271.
    5. Scalia, Antonio, 2008. "Is foreign exchange intervention effective? Some microanalytical evidence from the Czech Republic," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 529-546, June.
    6. Accominotti, Olivier & Cen, Jason & Chambers, David & Marsh, Ian W., 2019. "Currency Regimes and the Carry Trade," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 54(5), pages 2233-2260, October.
    7. Madhusudan Mohanty & Bat-el Berger, 2013. "Central bank views on foreign exchange intervention," BIS Papers chapters, in: Bank for International Settlements (ed.), Sovereign risk: a world without risk-free assets?, volume 73, pages 55-74, Bank for International Settlements.
    8. Alain Naef, 2021. "Dirty float or clean intervention? The Bank of England in the foreign exchange market," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 25(1), pages 180-201.
    9. Alain Naef, 2020. "Blowing against the Wind? A Narrative Approach to Central Bank Foreign Exchange Intervention," Working Papers 0188, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    10. Xavier Gabaix & Matteo Maggiori, 2015. "International Liquidity and Exchange Rate Dynamics," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 130(3), pages 1369-1420.
    11. Fratzscher, Marcel & Gloede, Oliver & Menkhoff, Lukas & Sarno, Lucio & Stöhr, Tobias, 2019. "When Is Foreign Exchange Intervention Effective? Evidence from 33 Countries," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 0(1), pages 132-156.
    12. Mark P. Taylor & Lucio Sarno, 2001. "Official Intervention in the Foreign Exchange Market: Is It Effective and, If So, How Does It Work?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(3), pages 839-868, September.
    13. Olivier Blanchard & Gustavo Adler & Irineu de Carvalho Filho, 2015. "Can Foreign Exchange Intervention Stem Exchange Rate Pressures from Global Capital Flow Shocks?," Working Paper Series WP15-18, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
    14. Lukas Menkhoff & Malte Rieth & Tobias Stohr, 2021. "The Dynamic Impact of FX Interventions on Financial Markets," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 103(5), pages 939-953, December.
    15. Kathryn M.E. Dominguez & Rasmus Fatum & Pavel Vacek, 2013. "Do Sales of Foreign Exchange Reserves Lead to Currency Appreciation?," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 45(5), pages 867-890, August.
    16. Adler, Gustavo & Lisack, Noëmie & Mano, Rui C., 2019. "Unveiling the effects of foreign exchange intervention: A panel approach," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 1-1.
    17. Naef, Alain, 2021. "Central Bank Reserves during the Bretton Woods Period: New data from France, the UK and Switzerland," SocArXiv he7gx, Center for Open Science.
    18. repec:mcb:jmoncb:v:45:y:2013:i::p:867-890 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alain Naef, 2020. "Blowing against the Wind? A Narrative Approach to Central Bank Foreign Exchange Intervention," Working Papers 0188, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    2. Alain Naef & Jacob P. Weber, 2023. "How Powerful Is Unannounced, Sterilized Foreign Exchange Intervention?," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 55(5), pages 1307-1319, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alain Naef & Jacob P. Weber, 2023. "How Powerful Is Unannounced, Sterilized Foreign Exchange Intervention?," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 55(5), pages 1307-1319, August.
    2. Andrew Filardo & Mr. Gaston Gelos & Thomas McGregor, 2022. "Exchange-Rate Swings and Foreign Currency Intervention," IMF Working Papers 2022/158, International Monetary Fund.
    3. Fratzscher, Marcel & Gloede, Oliver & Menkhoff, Lukas & Sarno, Lucio & Stöhr, Tobias, 2019. "When Is Foreign Exchange Intervention Effective? Evidence from 33 Countries," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 0(1), pages 132-156.
    4. Alain Naef, 2020. "Blowing against the Wind? A Narrative Approach to Central Bank Foreign Exchange Intervention," Working Papers 0188, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    5. Milan Nedeljkovic & Christian Saborowski, 2019. "The Relative Effectiveness of Spot and Derivatives‐Based Intervention," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 51(6), pages 1455-1490, September.
    6. Lukas Menkhoff & Malte Rieth & Tobias Stohr, 2021. "The Dynamic Impact of FX Interventions on Financial Markets," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 103(5), pages 939-953, December.
    7. Sandri, Damiano, 2023. "FX intervention to stabilize or manipulate the exchange rate? Inference from profitability," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    8. Kathryn M. E. Dominguez, 2020. "Revisiting Exchange Rate Rules," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 68(3), pages 693-719, September.
    9. Kathryn M. E. Dominguez, 0. "Revisiting Exchange Rate Rules," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 0, pages 1-27.
    10. Adler, Gustavo & Lisack, Noëmie & Mano, Rui C., 2019. "Unveiling the effects of foreign exchange intervention: A panel approach," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 1-1.
    11. Marcel Fratzscher & Tobias Heidland & Lukas Menkhoff & Lucio Sarno & Maik Schmeling, 2023. "Foreign Exchange Intervention: A New Database," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 71(4), pages 852-884, December.
    12. Jeffrey Frankel, 2021. "Systematic Managed Floating," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Steven J Davis & Edward S Robinson & Bernard Yeung (ed.), THE ASIAN MONETARY POLICY FORUM Insights for Central Banking, chapter 5, pages 160-221, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    13. Alain Naef, 2021. "Dirty float or clean intervention? The Bank of England in the foreign exchange market," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 25(1), pages 180-201.
    14. Kuersteiner, Guido M. & Phillips, David C. & Villamizar-Villegas, Mauricio, 2018. "Effective sterilized foreign exchange intervention? Evidence from a rule-based policy," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 118-138.
    15. Lucía Arango-Lozano & Lukas Menkhoff & Daniela Rodríguez-Novoa & Mauricio Villamizar-Villegas, 2020. "The Effectiveness of FX Interventions: A Meta-Analysis," Borradores de Economia 1132, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    16. Adler, Gustavo & Mano, Rui C., 2021. "The Cost of Foreign Exchange Intervention: Concepts and Measurement," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    17. Garcia-Cicco Javier & Bucacos Elizabeth & Mello Miguel, 2023. "Foreign Exchange Interventions and Foreign Shocks: The case of Uruguay," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4657, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.
    18. Francesca Caselli, 2017. "Did the Exchange Rate Floor Prevent Deflation in the Czech Republic?," Review of Economics and Institutions, Università di Perugia, vol. 8(2).
    19. Ghosh, Atish R. & Ostry, Jonathan D. & Qureshi, Mahvash S., 2018. "Taming the Tide of Capital Flows: A Policy Guide," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262037165, December.
    20. Sigal Ribon, 2017. "Why the Bank of Israel Intervenes in the Foreign Exchange Market, and What Happens to the Exchange Rate," Bank of Israel Working Papers 2017.04, Bank of Israel.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Monetary Policy; Foreign Exchange Markets; Bretton Woods System;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F3 - International Economics - - International Finance
    • N2 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bfr:banfra:834. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Michael brassart (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/bdfgvfr.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.