10 Years of a Currency Board : The Argentine Experience

The paper revisits the economic implications of currency boards discussed in the literature in light of the recent Argentinean experience with the Convertibility Plan. It finds that, while the plan was successful in bringing down inflation, it has done so at the expense of greater output volatility. Moreover, it finds that the disciplining effect on fiscal expenditures expected from the elimination of the inflation tax did not materialize, contributing to the vulnerability of the country to negative external shocks. The main alternatives to the convertibility regime, namely a floating regime and full dollarization, are explored