Systematic Intervention and Currency Risk Premia

Abstract

Using data for the trades of 19 central banks intervening in currency markets, we show that stabilization policies by individual central banks lead to patterns. This systematic intervention is driven by and affects the same factors that drive currency excess returns: carry, momentum, value, and a dollar factor. The sensitivity of an individual central bank's intervention to these factors differs markedly across countries, with developed countries making a profit from intervention and emerging markets incurring large losses.