International Reserve Holdings Research Articles

Optimal management of international reserves

AbstractThis article develops a continuous time stochastic model for determining the optimal international reserves management policy when the data generating process of international reserves is a geometric Brownian motion. The policy is a two‐parameter control‐limit that consists of an appropriate and a ceiling level on reserves holdings, given an exogenous floor on international reserves. The optimal solution is determined so as to minimize the total costs of international reserves holdings. It is proved that our results extend the framework of Frenkel and Jovanovic when the logarithm of international reserves is an arithmetic Brownian motion. We also explain that Jung paper does not extend Frenkel and Jovanovic model as claimed by the former. The model is calibrated to derive the optimal level and liquidity tranche size upper bound of international reserves of the CEMAC monetary union.

International reserves, economic crisis and monetary autonomy in Asia: a panel data analysis

ABSTRACT A country cannot simultaneously have an independent monetary policy, fixed exchange rate and freely mobile capital. This paper uses data from 10 Asian economies in recent years to investigate the macroeconomic trilemma. It makes special reference to the role of exchange rate regimes, capital controls, economic crisis, and international reserve holdings to analyse how interest rate changes in the centre country affect peripheral countries’ interest rates. The main findings support the existence of a macroeconomic trilemma. Moreover, we find that international reserves help to provide monetary autonomy with a buffer even under a fixed exchange rate and free capital mobility regime.

The Impacts of Financial Crises on the Trilemma Configurations

Over the years, policymakers have explored various combinations of varying degrees of monetary policy independence, exchange rate stability, and financial openness while recognizing that not all three policies can be achieved to the fullest extent – the “monetary trilemma” hypothesis. In recent years, holding international reserves (IR) has become an important policy instrument as a buffer or insurance against liquidity shortages. Significant and fundamental economic events such as currency crises have often changed the policy mix. In this paper, we find that countries’ policy mixes have been diverse and varied over time from the perspective of the trilemma and also IR holding. We then illustrate how the combination of the three trilemma policies and IR holding drastically changed before and after the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC). However, the Global Financial Crisis did not lead to a drastic change in the policy arrangements. We find that countries that faced large terms of trade shocks or negative economic growth during the crisis increase IR holding in the post-AFC. Countries that had negative growth during the crisis also tend to pursue more exchange rate flexibility and more open financial markets. This characteristic is true for commodity exporters, but not for manufacturing exporters. Countries with large current account deficit (i.e., “large capital borrowers”) tend to be more sensitive to economic growth at the time of the AFC. Countries that are under IMF stabilization programs or those with sovereign wealth funds tend to hold more IR. These characteristics were not found in the aftermath of the GFC. In general, countries increased their IR holdings after the GFC, but did not respond to the during-crisis economic and institutional conditions.

Factors Associated with Growth in India’s International Reserves: VECM Analysis

This study empirically examines the determinants of India’s international reserves in the long run and in the short run with seven other macroeconomic variables using the vector error correction model. The Johansen co-integration results indicate a positive long-run relationship between international reserves holdings and broad money M3 and foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows and negative relationship with external debt. The Granger causality test outcome also verifies the results, demonstrating that increase in broad money supply and FDI inflows are the reason for the accumulation in international reserves in India in the long run. M3 demonstrated a higher influence on international reserves suggesting that monetary policy is used widely in regulating the international reserves in India. This study also estimated the short-run dynamics and the tendency of the variables to reinstate to its long-run equilibrium. The error correction term coefficient entails a moderately low level of adjustment of international reserves holding, indicating that it is the other reason that the level of international reserves holding in India is high in the short run. JEL Codes: E51, F31, F41

Global Banks’ Dollar Funding

Leading up to the global financial crisis, US dollar activity by global banks headquartered outside the United States played a crucial role in transmitting shocks originating in funding markets. Although post-crisis regulation has improved banking systems’ resilience, US dollar funding remains a global vulnerability, as evidenced by strains that reemerged in March 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. We show that shocks to US dollar funding costs lead to financial stress in the home economies of these global non-US banks, and to spillovers to borrowers, especially emerging economies. US dollar funding vulnerability amplifies these negative effects, while some policy-related factors act as mitigators, such as swap line arrangements between central banks and international reserve holdings. Thus, these vulnerabilities should be monitored and, to the extent possible, controlled.

Global Banks’ Dollar Funding: A Source of Financial Vulnerability

Leading up to the global financial crisis, US dollar activity by global banks headquartered outside the United States played a crucial role in transmitting shocks originating in funding markets. Although post-crisis regulation has improved banking systems’ resilience, US dollar funding remains a global vulnerability, as evidenced by strains that reemerged in March 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. We show that shocks to US dollar funding costs lead to financial stress in the home economies of these global non-US banks, and to spillovers to borrowers, especially emerging economies. US dollar funding vulnerability amplifies these negative effects, while some policy-related factors act as mitigators, such as swap line arrangements between central banks and international reserve holdings. Thus, these vulnerabilities should be monitored and, to the extent possible, controlled.

Global Banks' Dollar Funding: A Source of Financial Vulnerability

Leading up to the global financial crisis, US dollar activity by global banks headquartered outside the United States played a crucial role in transmitting shocks originating in funding markets. Although post-crisis regulation has improved banking systems' resilience, US dollar funding remains a global vulnerability, as evidenced by strains that reemerged in March 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. We show that shocks to US dollar funding costs lead to financial stress in the home economies of these global non-US banks, and to spillovers to borrowers, especially emerging economies. US dollar funding vulnerability amplifies these negative effects, while some policy-related factors act as mitigators, such as swap line arrangements between central banks and international reserve holdings. Thus, these vulnerabilities should be monitored and, to the extent possible, controlled.

The Inflationary Effects in a Crisis and the Risk Management Strategy with International Reserves

This work presents a model of a two-period economy where the household has a CRRA utility function and monetary policy impacts his budgetary constraint. There are two possible states of nature in the second period: a normal state and a crisis state. The policy maker buys an Arrow-Debreu security to insure against crisis. The costs of the Arrow-Debreu security are equal to the costs of holding international reserves. The model considers that the central bank wants to avoid crisis and to smooth inflation and then the main contribution of this paper is to connect monetary policy with the precautionary motivation of holding international reserves. As a result, the framework provides an equation to calculate the level of international reserves and the model calibration shows that the equation can help to evaluate international reserves holdings. The calibration also shows that not considering monetary policy in the risk management strategy can lead to an underestimated amount of international reserves.

Factors Affecting International Reserves with Special Reference to India

World international reserves holdings have accelerated sharply in recent times. Countries particularly developing ones are competitive enough to hoard these reserves and top 10 major holders are mostly from Asia. Interestingly India comes only ninth among them. Developing countries, particularly India, are in line to hoard foreign reserves and there are certain factors that affect international reserves holdings. This study analysed the impact of few macroeconomic factors on these reserves. Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) and Phillips-Perron (PP) tests were employed to check the stationarity of the variables on the time series data that were of annual frequency. It was found that all variables were co-integrated signalling long-run relationship. Error correction mechanism (ECM) was implemented to get short-run dynamics for which a negative relation was established for trade openness (TRDOP) which contradicts previous studies. The negative relationship of TRDOP with international reserves in India could be due to the outcome of sustained trade deficits of Indian balance of payments. The economic growth variable exhibits a positive relationship which is consistent with previous studies. All variables were found significant at a 5 per cent level. The ECM suggested the same results as its long-run counterpart.

Terms-of-trade cycles and external adjustment

We study the process of external adjustment to large terms-of-trade level shifts—identified with a Markov-switching approach—for a large set of countries during the period 1960–2015. We find that adjustment to these shocks is relatively fast. Current accounts experience, on average, a contemporaneous variation of only about ½ of the magnitude of the price shock—indicating a significant volume offset—and a full adjustment within 3–4 years. Dynamics are largely symmetric for terms-of-trade booms and busts, as well as for advanced and emerging market economies. External adjustment is driven primarily by offsetting shifts in domestic demand, as opposed to variations in output (also reflected in the response of import rather than export volumes), indicating a strong income channel at play. Exchange rate flexibility played an important buffering role during booms, but less so during busts; while international reserve holdings were a key tool for smoothing the adjustment process.

Impact of economic growth on international reserve holdings in Brazil

ABSTRACT This study investigated the impact of economic growth on Brazilian international reserves holdings in the context of Error Correction Mechanism using data over the 1980-2014 period. The results reveal that economic growth is highly significant. From the estimation of our model, we argue that economic growth and international reserves have positive long run relationship. Error correction estimates validated our model for error correction term is negative and statistically significant. Besides, our model suggested that economic growth has short run relationship too. The speed of adjustment is more than 40% which indicated that error correction term corrects previous year disequilibrium at the rate of 40.4%.

International reserves and global interest rates

In this paper we study the relationship between foreign currency international reserve holdings and global interest rates. To guide empirical work we solve a simple, small open-economy model with money, where the central bank manages international reserves to smooth inflation over time. This model shows that changes in interest rates are positively related to the target level of reserves. As a consequence interest rate hikes increase reserve transfers, defined as the change in international reserves net of the interest earned on reserves. Using quarterly data for 75 countries between 2000 and 2013, we document a positive relationship between interest-rate changes and reserve transfers as a share of GDP, that is consistent with the model.

Terms-of-Trade Cycles and External Adjustment

We study the process of external adjustment to large terms-of-trade level shifts—identified with a Markov-switching approach—for a large set of countries during the period 1960–2015. We find that adjustment to these shocks is relatively fast. Current accounts experience, on average, a contemporaneous variation of only about ½ of the magnitude of the price shock—indicating a significant volume offset—and a full adjustment within 3–4 years. Dynamics are largely symmetric for terms-of-trade booms and busts, as well as for advanced and emerging market economies. External adjustment is driven primarily by offsetting shifts in domestic demand, as opposed to variations in output (also reflected in the response of import rather than export volumes), indicating a strong income channel at play. Exchange rate flexibility appears to have played an important buffering role during booms, but less so during busts; while international reserve holdings have been a key tool for smoothing the adjustment process.

Terms-of-Trade Cycles and External Adjustment

We study the process of external adjustment to large terms-of-trade level shifts—identified with a Markov-switching approach—for a large set of countries during the period 1960–2015. We find that adjustment to these shocks is relatively fast. Current accounts experience, on average, a contemporaneous variation of only about ½ of the magnitude of the price shock—indicating a significant volume offset—and a full adjustment within 3–4 years. Dynamics are largely symmetric for terms-of-trade booms and busts, as well as for advanced and emerging market economies. External adjustment is driven primarily by offsetting shifts in domestic demand, as opposed to variations in output (also reflected in the response of import rather than export volumes), indicating a strong income channel at play. Exchange rate flexibility appears to have played an important buffering role during booms, but less so during busts; while international reserve holdings have been a key tool for smoothing the adjustment process.

International Reserves Holdings in the CEMAC Area: Adequacy and Motives

AbstractThe main objective of this paper is to investigate CEMAC's demand for international reserves, with an emphasis on the role of the monetary disequilibrium. Prior to this task, we assess CEMAC's position in terms of reserve adequacy. Using some relevant measures of reserve adequacy, we find that CEMAC countries have sufficient international reserves to meet the minimum adequacy requirements. To better analyze CEMAC's international reserves demand, we extend the usual buffer stock model to account for overall economic growth and imports. Moreover, an importance is given to the devaluation of the CFA franc, the peg of this currency to the euro, and the effect of the recent Global Financial Crisis. Using quarterly data from 1985:1 to 2009:4, we show that the long‐run reserve demand in the CEMAC area can be described as a function of uncertainty and economic growth. It also appears that a disequilibrium in the money market significantly affects reserve demand in the CEMAC area. Moreover, both the devaluation of the CFA franc and the peg of this currency to the euro positively affect the demand for international reserves in the short run. Finally, there is evidence of an inertia in the reserve management of the central bank.

Overcoming the euro crisis and prospects for a political union

The euro crisis and a new debate about immigration in Europe have undermined support for the EU while the unsolved Greek debt problems as well as the ECB’s quantitative easing policy have raised new crucial policy issues. It is necessary to identify the key issues of Eurozone stabilization and to clarify the economic benefits from monetary integration. As regards the economic welfare analysis of the euro, the new model presented shows the benefits of the euro’s reserve currency position, namely in the framework of a neoclassical growth model with seigniorage based on international reserve holdings. Discounted benefits are about 10,000 € per capita in a stable Euro area. Thus the benefits are bigger than often considered, at the same time one may raise the question of whether the existing institutional setting of the Eurozone is sufficient for achieving long-term stability and prosperity. As regards the envisaged third rescue package for Greece it is emphasized that a haircut of public creditors along with adoption of a Greek capital levy plus privatization efforts are required to achieve debt sustainability and growth. The traditional interpretation of subsidiarity in the EU is found to be misleading and the vertical division of politics is destabilizing.

International Reserves Before and After the Global Crisis: Is There No End to Hoarding?

We evaluate the impact of the global financial crisis (GFC) and recent structural changes in the patterns of hoarding international reserves (IR). We confirm that the determinants of IR hoarding evolve with developments in the global economy. During the pre-GFC period of 1999-2006, gross saving is associated with higher IR in developing and emerging markets. The negative impact of outward direct investment on IR accumulation is consistent with the recent trend of diverting international assets from the international reserve account into tangible foreign assets; the “Joneses’ effect” lends support to the regional rivalry in hoarding IR as a motivation; and commodity price volatility induces precautionary buffer hoarding. During the 2007-2009 GFC period, previously significant variables become insignificant or display the opposite effect, probably reflecting the frantic market conditions driven by financial instability. Nevertheless, the propensity to import and gross saving continue to display strong and even larger positive effects on IR holding. The results from the 2010-2012 post-GFC period are dominated by factors that had been mostly overlooked in earlier decades. While the negative effect of swap agreements and the positive effect of gross saving on IR holdings are in line with our expectations, we find a change in the link between outward direct investment and IR in the pre- and post-crisis period. The macro-prudential policy tends to complement IR accumulation. Developed countries display different demand behaviors for IRs. Our predictive exercise affirms that an emerging market economy with insufficient IR holdings in 2012 tends to experience exchange rate depreciation against the U.S. dollar when many emerging markets were adjusted to the news of tapering quantitative easing in 2013.

2014 Pilot External Sector Report - Individual Economy Assessments

The external sector assessments use a range of methods and metrics, including the External Balance Assessment approach developed by the IMF’s Research Department to estimate desirable levels of current account balances and real exchange rates (Box 3 of the 2014 Pilot External Sector Report discusses the use of this methodology). The overall assessments of external positions are based on the judgment of IMF staff drawing on the inputs provided by these model estimates and other analysis, including assessment of international reserves holdings, while taking account of relevant uncertainties. The assessments, which are multilaterally consistent, highlight the role of policies in shaping external positions.

Reserve accumulation and financial crises: From individual protection to systemic risk

This paper provides a new perspective on the relationship between countries׳ international reserve holdings and financial crises: while the “local” view holds that reserves may prevent domestic crises, it overlooks that the accumulation of reserves relaxes the financing constraint of the reserve currency country and may cause a financial crisis in the centre, which is transmitted globally. According to this “global” view reserve accumulation might destabilize the international financial system. Since the crisis affects all countries alike, the accumulation of reserves imposes a negative externality on non-accumulating countries.We integrate this idea in a theoretical model of the optimal amount of reserves and illustrate the gap between local and global optimality: the consideration of systemic risk lowers the demand for reserves. Moreover, if a supranational authority determines the optimal level of reserves, it internalizes the negative externality and accumulates fewer reserves. A macroprudential tax on reserve hoardings might implement the socially optimal solution. Our calibration analysis shows that these considerations are economically significant: they lower the optimal amount of reserves in the benchmark case by 45%.

International Reserves and Rollover Risk

This paper provides a theoretical framework to quantitatively investigate the optimal accumulation of international reserves to hedge against rollover risk. We study a dynamic model of endogenous default in which the government faces a tradeoff between the insurance benefits of reserves with the cost of keeping larger gross debt positions. A calibrated version of our model is able to rationalize large holdings of international reserves, as well as the procyclicality of reserves and gross debt positions. Model simulations are also consistent with spread dynamics and other key macroeconomic variables in emerging economies. The benefits of insurance arrangements and the effects of restricting the use of reserves after default are also analyzed.