How Africa Can Navigate Growing Monetary Policy Challenges
Tools such as foreign exchange intervention can ease the effects of shocks but need to be carefully weighed against potential longer-term costs.
Enhancing Monetary Policy Flexibility Through `De-dollarization’
By Marcello Estevão and Greetje Everaert
Version in Español (Spanish)
Borrowing and saving in foreign currencies—so-called dollarization—seem like a rational response by citizens in some emerging market economies to financial crises and runaway inflation. But dollarization usually persists many years after the problems that triggered it are alleviated and limits the effect that central banks can have on economic activity and inflation. […]
Oil Exporters Learn to Live with Cheaper Oil
By Martin Sommer, Juan Treviño, and Neil Hickey
Version in عربي (Arabic)
The significant and prolonged drop in oil prices since mid-2014 has changed the fortunes of many energy-exporting nations around the world. This applies particularly to countries of the Middle East and Central Asia, because these regions are home to 11 of the world’s top 20 energy exporters.
What Future for Unconventional Monetary Policies
How quickly should the United States tighten monetary policy and exit from quantitative easing? Is the neutral real interest rate lower than before the crisis? Should we raise inflation targets? What can we learn from the unconventional policies that emerging markets adopted during the crisis? Are we entering an environment of global deflation? And if so, can the existing central bank toolkit stave off that threat?
Seven years after the crisis, the effects of unconventional monetary policies continue to be a matter of debate. There is little consensus not only about the effectiveness of these policies in promoting aggregate demand, but also about possible unintended side effects on financial stability.
The Quest for Robust and Synchronized Growth
(Versions in Español, عربي, 中文, Français, Русский and 日本語)
Today, we released the October 2015 World Economic Outlook.
Our forecasts come at a moment when the world economy is at the intersection of at least three powerful forces.
First, China’s economic transformation – away from export- and investment-led growth and manufacturing, in favor of a greater focus on consumption and services. This process, however necessary and healthy in the longer term, has near-term implications for China’s growth and its relations with its trade partners.
Emerging Market Corporate Debt in Foreign Currencies
By Selim Elekdag and Gaston Gelos
Debt held by firms in emerging market economies in a currency other than their own poses extra complications these days. When the U.S. Fed does eventually raise interest rates, the accompanying further strengthening of the U.S. dollar will mean an emerging market’s own currency will depreciate against the higher value of the U.S. dollar, and would make it increasingly difficult for firms to service their foreign currency-denominated debts if they have not been properly hedged.
In the latest Global Financial Stability Report, we find that firms in emerging markets that have increased their debt-to-assets ratios have generally also increased their overall sensitivity to changes in the exchange rate—commonly called exchange-rate exposure.
Flash Crashes and Swiss Francs: Market Liquidity Takes a Holiday
By José Viñals
Financial market liquidity can be fleeting. The ability to trade in assets of any size, at any time and to find a ready buyer is not a given. As discussed in some detail last fall in this blog, a number of factors, including the evolving structure of financial markets and some regulations appear to have pushed liquidity into a new realm: markets look susceptible to episodes of high price volatility where liquidity suddenly vanishes.
In our April 2015 Global Financial Stability Report we identify a new aspect to the problem: asset price correlations have risen sharply in the last five years across all major asset classes (see figure). […]
Multi-Track Monetary Policies in Advanced Economies: What This Means for Asia
By James Daniel and Rachel van Elkan
Since mid-2014, diversity and divergence—applying to countries’ economic situations, policies and performance—have dominated global economic discussions. Differing economic performance in major advanced countries has led to divergent monetary policies.
Both the Bank of Japan and the European Central Bank have started significant expansions of their balance sheets, while the U.S. Federal Reserve has ended its bond-buying program and is expected to start raising rates. This has had many effects, in particular, contributing to a sharp depreciation of the Yen and the Euro against the U.S. dollar (see chart 1).
Northern Spring, Southern Chills: Outlook for Latin America and the Caribbean
(Version in Español and Português)
Economic activity in Latin America and the Caribbean has been cooling down for several years, and the temperature in many places is still falling. Regional growth is now expected to dip below 1 percent in 2015—down from 1.3 percent in 2014. Apart from a short-lived recession during the global financial crisis, this would be the slowest rate of growth since 2002.
However, growth dynamics vary across the region, broadly along North-South lines. While spring may be in the air for Mexico, Central America, and parts of the Caribbean, the economic climate remains decidedly chilly in much of South America. What is behind these divergent prospects, and how can a sunnier outlook be restored to the entire region?
Four Forces Facing the Global Economy
(Versions in عربي and Español)
In our April 2015 World Economic Outlook, we forecast global growth to be roughly the same this year than last year, 3.5% versus 3.4%. This global number reflects an increase in growth in advanced economies, 2.4% versus 1.8%, offset by a decrease in growth in emerging market and developing economies, 4.3% versus 4.6% last year. In short, to repeat the words used by the IMF Managing Director last week, we see growth as “moderate and uneven”.
Behind these numbers lies an unusually complex set of forces shaping the world economy. Some, such as the decline in the price of oil and the evolution of exchange rates, are highly visible. Some, from crisis legacies to lower potential growth, play more of a role behind the scene but are important nevertheless. Let me briefly review them.