From Inflation to Exchange Rate Targeting: Estimating the Stabilization Effects

This paper attempts to estimate possible losses in macroeconomic stabilization due to a move from inflation to exchange rate targeting on an example of the Czech Republic. The authors use an estimated New Keynesian policy model, general inflation and exchange rate targeting rules, and representative central bank loss functions to carry out such estimations. The authors find that for the Czech Republic moving from the historically applied inflation targeting to optimized exchange rate targeting should not involve any significant losses in macroeconomic stabilization. However, the Czech National Bank could improve its stabilization outcomes while remaining an inflation targeter. This requires the Czech National Bank to respond stronger to increasing expected future inflation and be less concerned about an opening output gap when adjusting its policy rate. Moving then from such optimized inflation targeting to optimized exchange rate targeting can result in significant losses in economic stabilization in the magnitude of 0.4 to 2 percentage points of GDP growth.

Analyzing the Impact of Macroeconomic Shocks on Public Debt Dynamics: An Application to the Czech Republic

The global financial crisis and its ramification into the fiscal area have demonstrated the importance of regular assessment and monitoring of fiscal vulnerabilities, including the sustainability of sovereign debt. This paper extends the analytical framework of Favero and Giavazzi (2007) to facilitate the analysis of the effects of macroeconomic shocks on public debt dynamics in an open economy. It then applies this framework using the data for the Czech Republic and derives some policy implications from such an analysis. The modeling framework nests a linear structural vector auto-regression (SVAR) model estimated with short-run identifying restrictions and a non-linear equation describing the public debt dynamics. The main variables of the system include GDP growth, inflation, the effective interest rate on government debt, government expenditures and revenues, the exchange rate and government debt. The utilized estimation method is the Bayesian approach.Macroeconomic Shocks, Non-linear Public Debt Dynamics, Open Economy, Czech Republic, Structural Vector Autoregression Model, Bayesian Estimation

Macroeconomic Dynamics in Macedonia and Slovakia: Structural Estimation and Comparison

This paper estimates the structural model of Linde et al. (2008) using data for Macedonia and Slovakia. A comparison of the estimated model parameters suggest that, in Slovakia, the output gap is less sensitive to real interest rate movements and prices experience greater inertia. The estimated monetary policy reaction functions present Macedonia and Slovakia as inflation targeters, with Macedonia as the more conservative one, despite its officially applied exchange rate targeting regime. The differences in estimated parameters imply differing transmission mechanisms for Macedonia and Slovakia. Consequently, the variance of domestic variables in Slovakia is most influenced by monetary policy shocks, while there is no single dominating shock explaining the volatility of Macedonia’s macroeconomic variables. The exchange rate shock, the monetary policy shock and the demand shock are jointly important in determining the volatility of Macedonia’s variables. The model simulations indicate that Macedonia experiences lower output gap and inflation volatility than Slovakia. This comes, nevertheless, at the cost of higher interest rate and real exchange rate volatility in Macedonia, which could be an indication of more volatile financial markets.Structural Open-Economy Model, Bayesian Estimation, Eastern European Transition Economies.

Macroeconomic Management, Financial Sector Development and Crisis Resilience: Some Stylized Facts from Central and Eastern Europe

Emerging Central and Eastern Europe is the region most affected by spillovers of the global financial crisis. However, some countries in CEE appeared to have been more prepared and resilient than others. To draw some lessons on why some countries weathered the negative spillovers of the global financial crisis better than others, we focus on the case of the Czech economy, and subsequently bring in some cross-country evidence from the new EU member states. The derived lessons indicate that it is effective to establish a consolidated supervisor at the national level, ideally within a strong and independent central bank. That, consolidation of financial regulation and supervision facilitates a fast-action response, comprehensive data collection and analysis, and increases respect for the supervisor in the financial community. The lessons further stress the role of macro-prudential supervision ensuring, among others, moderate loan-to-deposit ratios of the banking sector and low dollarization of loans through adequate pricing of foreign exchange risk by banks. Further, a prudent macroeconomic management appears to deliver low interest rate differentials and thus a lower share of reversible capital.Macroeconomic management, financial sector prudential supervision, Central and Eastern Europe

Choosing the currency structure for sovereign debt : a review of current approaches

This paper acknowledges the fact that some countries have to borrow in foreign currencies due to the various constraints they face. Starting from this point, the author reviews approaches for trying to determine the currency structure for sovereign debt, and discusses some issues inherent in these approaches. The analysis mainly focuses on the correlations of domestic fundamentals with the actual versus equilibrium exchange rate in light of the long-term perspective of a debt manager and changing exchange rate regimes. In addition, the author makes some observations on the characterization of exchange rate volatilities in the existing approaches.Economic Theory&Research,External Debt,Financial Intermediation,Strategic Debt Management,Foreign Direct Investment

Choosing the Currency Structure of Foreign-currency Debt: a Review of Policy Approaches

Starting from the constraints and incentives that cause countries to issue debt in foreign currency, this paper provides an overview of policy approaches for choosing the optimal currency structure of sovereign foreign-currency debt. The objective of sovereign debt managers generally includes both risk and cost minimization, while constraints to foreign-currency debt allocation originate in the parameters of the domestic macroeconomy, the shocks it faces, and the initial conditions. Overall, the main parameters that drive the solutions for optimal currency allocation of foreign-currency debt are the covariances of macrovariables with exchange rates and the variances of different exchange rates. Both the covariances and the exchange rate volatility can be deceptive when a fixed exchange rate regime is maintained, however. To adequately capture the expected covariances in the context of managed exchange rate regimes, we suggest that sovereign debt managers work with equilibrium instead of actual exchange rates. For the same reason and because the estimates of relative exchange rate variances should be forward looking, we suggest using synchronization indicators in the policy analysis to better capture the underlying drivers of exchange rate volatility across currencies.Sovereign Debt Management, Foreign-Currency Debt, Exchange Rates and Exchange Rate Volatility, External Shocks, Developing Countries.

An alternative framework for foreign exchange risk management of sovereign debt

This paper proposes a measure of synchronization in the movements of relevant domestic and foreign fundamentals for choosing suitable currency for denomination of foreign debt. The selection of explanatory variables for exchange rate volatility is motivated using a New Keynesian Policy model. The model predicts that not only traditional optimal currency area variables, but also variables considered by the literature on currency preferences, such as money velocity, should be relevant for explaining exchange rate volatility. The findings show that measures of inflation synchronization, money velocity synchronization, and interest rate synchronization can be useful indicators for decisions on the currency denomination of foreign debt.Debt Markets,Emerging Markets,Currencies and Exchange Rates,,Economic Theory&Research

A cross-country analysis of public debt management strategies

This paper analyzes results of a survey on debt management strategies conducted by the Banking and Debt Management Department of the World Bank. The analysis focuses on (1) whether a public debt management strategy exists in a given country, (2) whether it is made public, and (3) in which form it is imparted. The paper analyzes the distribution of the latter characteristics over different regions, income groups, and levels of indebtedness using graphical analysis. Using regression analysis, it investigates the extent to which basic economic factors can explain the characteristics of public debt management strategies across countries.External Debt,Debt Markets,,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Economic Theory&Research

An Estimated, New Keynesian Policy Model for Australia

A two-block open economy model is estimated in this paper using Australian and U.S. data. Evaluation of the estimated model is carried out in relation to a simple closed economy alternative. Namely, we inspect the implied transmission mechanisms, and examine the relative out-of-sample forecasting performance of the closed and open economy models.DSGE Model, Open Economy, Australia, U.S., Bayesian Estimation.

Comparing constraints to economic stabilization in Macedonia and Slovakia: macro estimates with micro narratives

This paper re-emphasizes the link from structural policies to enhanced macroeconomic stabilization using a small structural model estimated on quarterly data for Macedonia and Slovakia over 1995-2007. The success of macroeconomic stabilization, typically in the hands of monetary policy, is not only determined by a suitable choice of the nominal anchor, which shapes the reaction function of monetary policy, but also the constraints within which the monetary policy strives to achieve its objectives. The key attributes of the constraints to macroeconomic stabilization are economic rigidities and structural shocks. By benchmarking the estimated economic rigidities and structural shocks faced by Macedonia to those faced by Slovakia, the authors find that Macedonia has relatively weaker transmission mechanisms of monetary policy, higher output rigidity, and a lower exchange rate pass-through, and faces larger external shocks. For Macedonia, these relatively higher constraints on monetary policy together with the chosen exchange rate anchor result in greater output and inflation volatility relative to Slovakia. Hence, it appears that small, open economies with stronger economic rigidities should apply monetary policy regimes that allow for more flexible adjustments in external relative prices to enhance their macroeconomic stability.Currencies and Exchange Rates,Economic Theory&Research,Debt Markets,Economic Stabilization,Emerging Markets