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External debt and monetary policy autonomy

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  • Jonathan Scott Davis

    (Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, 2200 N. Pearl Street, Dallas, TX 75201, USA)

Abstract

During a time of rising world interest rates, the central bank of a small open economy may be motivated to increase its own interest rate to keep from suffering a destabilizing outflow of capital and depreciation in the exchange rate. Empirically, this paper shows that this is especially true for a small open economy with a current account deficit, which relies on foreign capital inflows to finance this deficit. In addition, the method of current account financing has a large effect on whether or not the central bank will opt for exchange rate and capital flow stabilization during a time of rising world interest rates. A current account deficit financed mainly through reserve depletion or the accumulation of private sector debt will cause the central bank to pursue de facto exchange rate stabilization, whereas a current account deficit financed through equity or FDI will not. Quantitatively, reserve depletion of about 7% of GDP will motivate the central bank with a floating currency to adjust its interest rate in line with the foreign interest rate to where it appears that the central bank has an exchange rate peg.

Suggested Citation

  • Jonathan Scott Davis, 2017. "External debt and monetary policy autonomy," Revista ESPE - Ensayos sobre Política Económica, Banco de la Republica de Colombia, vol. 35(82), pages 53-63, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:bdr:ensayo:v:35:y:2017:i:82:p:53-63
    DOI: 10.1016/j.espe.2016.11.004
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    Cited by:

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    3. Waheed, Farah & Abdul Rashid,, 2021. "Credit frictions, fiscal imbalances, monetary policy autonomy, and monetary policy rules," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 23(C).
    4. J. Scott Davis & Andrei Zlate, 2017. "Monetary Policy Divergence, Net Capital Flows, and Exchange Rates: Accounting for Endogenous Policy Responses," Globalization Institute Working Papers 328, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Tipos de cambio fijos; Cuenta corriente; Reservas del banco central;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F30 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - General
    • F40 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - General
    • E30 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • E50 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - General

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