Structural reforms, macroeconomic policies and the future of Kazakhstan

This paper presents a small macroeconomic model of Kazakhstan to study the impact of various economic policies. The simulations provide insight into the role of a tight monetary policy, higher foreign direct investment, rises in nominal wages and in crude oil prices. The results obtained are in line with the economic observations and give some support to the policies chosen as priority targets by the Kazakh authorities for the forthcoming years.Central Asian CIS countries; Kazakhstan; macroeconomic stabilization; transition economies

Le Brésil de Lula : l'utopie réformiste est elle soluble dans la globalisation financière ?

Le texte propose un bilan des deux premières années de politique économique de l'équipe de Lula. La première partie rappelle l'héritage du précédent gouvernement de Fernando Henrique Cardoso. En dépit d'importants succès dans la lutte contre l'inflation et la réforme du secteur public, de profonds déséquilibres internes et externe perdurent, avec des taux d'intérêt élevés, une forte volatilité des taux de croissance, et une inégalité record dans la répartition de la richesse. Les tensions s'accroissent dangereusement pendant la campagne électorale, à mesure que le candidat socialiste Lula da Silva monte dans les sondages : les « spreads » sur les emprunts internationaux atteignent des niveaux historiques tandis que le taux de change s'effondre.Comme le montre la suite de l'exposé, le premier objectif du gouvernement Lula a été de réassurer les marchés financiers et d'administrer un « choc de crédibilité » : son équipe va réaliser des réformes dans le secteur public - au niveau du système de pension et de la fiscalité - , poursuivant par ailleurs une politique de taux d'intérêt orientée vers la lutte contre l'inflation. Au delà de ces premières mesures d'urgence, Lula continue manifestement la politique menée par Cardoso, pour le meilleur (système de sécurité sociale, santé, éducation, réforme du secteur publique) et le pire (une politique séduisant plus les spéculateurs financiers que les investisseurs à long terme). Pour réduire le chômage et la pauvreté, le Brésil nécessite des taux de croissance plus élevés et plus stables que les taux courants de l'ordre de 3 à 4%. Après la stabilisation, le principal pari de l'administration Lula consistera à mobiliser les investissements domestiques et étrangers dans le domaine des infrastructures et des industries les plus dynamiques tout en renforçant les politiques sociales.Brésil; Stabilisation; Ajustement; Crédibilité; Crise de Balance de Paiement; Développement; Industrialisation; Distribution des Revenus; Inflation

Does a Monetary Union protect again foreign shocks? An assessment of Latin American integration using a Bayesian VAR

This paper analyses the monetary consequences of the Latin-American trade integration process. We consider a sample of five countries –Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Uruguay- spanning the period 1991-2007. The main question raised pertains to the feasibility of a monetary union between L.A. economies. To this end, we study whether this set of countries is characterized by business cycle synchronization with the occurrence of common shocks, a strong similarity in the adjustment process and the convergence of policy responses. We focus especially our attention on two points. First, we try to determine to what extent international disturbances influence the domestic business cycles through trade and/or financial channels. Second, we analyze the impact of the adoption of different exchange rate regimes on the countries' responses to shocks. All these features are the main issues in the literature relative to regional integration and OCA process.bayesian VAR ; business cycles ; Latin American countries ; optimum currency area

Disentangling business cycles and macroeconomic policy in Mercosur: a VAR and unobserved components model approaches

This paper analyses the feasibility of a monetary union within the Mercosur, focusing on cycle synchronicity. Three questions are addressed, concerning respectively the features of shocks hitting each member, the impact of exchange rate regime differences on countries' responses and the share of common and idiosyncratic components in shocks and policy responses. Shocks are identified through identical country-VARs. This paper concludes that there exists a weak cycle synchronization, due to asymmetric shocks and divergences in policy responses. The endogenous approach in OCA theory can advise the adoption of a common nominal anchor, in order to speed up convergence.Business Cycles, OCA; Co-movement; VAR; Unobserved components model; Mercosur

Financial spillovers from the US financial markets to the emerging markets during the subprime crisis: the example of Indian equity markets

This paper provides evidence of spillover effects from the Indian to the US financial markets. We use VAR and Kalman filter analysis to assess the influence of financial stress indicators like the LIBOR-OIS, CDS, the S&P 500 volatility and the exchange rate of the rupee against the Dollar on two indicators of financial stress in India, namely the illiquidity of stock indices and their volatility. We conduct an analysis bases on both daily and monthly frequency and use a database that consists of both aggregate and disaggregated indexes. Our results points to a signification contagion effect after the period following the Lehman Brothers collapse.Subprime crisis, Emerging Markets, VAR analysis, financial stress

Modeling the impact of real and financial shocks on Mercosur: the role of the exchange rate regime

This paper studies to what extent the diversity of exchange rate regimes within Mercosur exerts an influence on the feasibility of a monetary union in this area. A semi-structural VAR model is built for each country, including a set of international and domestic variables. Based on impulse response functions and forecast error decomposition, we conclude that differences of exchange rate regime explain significantly the divergences of economic dynamics triggered by foreign or domestic shocks. Second, we decompose the structural innovations generated by each country model into unobservable common and idiosyncratic components, using a state-space model. This last exercise, intended to assess the degree of policy coordination between the Mercosur members, did not disclose any common component for the structural innovations generated by the three national models.co-movement ; Cycles ; Mercosur ; optimum currency area ; unobserved components model

Monetary Integration Issues in Latin America: A Multivariate Assessment

This paper assesses the monetary consequences of the Latin-American integration process. Over the period 1991-2007, we analyze a sample of five Latin-American countries focusing on the feasibility of a monetary union between L.A. economies. To this end, we study the issue of business cycle synchronization with the occurrence of common shocks. First, we assess the international disturbances influence on the domestic business cycles. Second, we analyze the impact of the adoption of different exchange rate regimes on the countries responses to shocks.Business cycles, OCA, Bayesian VAR, Latin American countries

Monetary Integration Issues in Latin America: a multivariate assessment

This paper assesses the monetary consequences of the Latin-American integration process. Over the period 1991-2007, we analyze a sample of five Latin-Americancountries focusing on the feasibility of a monetary union between L.A. economies. To this end, we study the issue of business cycle synchronization with the occurrence ofcommon shocks. First, we assess the international disturbances influence on the domestic business cycles. Second, we analyze the impact of the adoption of different exchange rate regimes on the countries' responses to shocks.Business cycles; OCA, Bayesian VAR; Latin American countries

Does a Monetary Union protect again shocks? An assessment of Latin American integration

This paper analyses the monetary consequences of the Latin-American trade integration process. We consider a sample of five countries -Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Uruguay- spanning the period 1991-2007. The main question raised pertains to the feasibility of a monetary union between L.A. economies. To this end, we study whether this set of countries is characterized by business cycle synchronization with the occurrence of common shocks, a strong similarity in the adjustment process and the convergence of policy responses. We focus especially our attention on two points. First, we tryto determine to what extent international disturbances influence the domestic business cycles through trade and/or financial channels. Second, we analyze the impact of the adoption of different exchange rate regimes on the countries' responses to shocks. All these features are the main issues in the literature relative to regional integration and OCA process.bayesian VAR ; business cycles ; Latin American countries ; optimum currency area