This document analyzes the rationality of keeping international reserves, which are used as a type of insurance in the event of external financing problems and to mediate in the type of exchange rate. Here it is argued that it is not possible to separate both objectives. This explains why the...

Recurrent capital inflows pose important challenges for authorities in emerging market economies seeking to preserve financial stability. Raising interest rates to dampen imbalances that could arise from capital flows can also attract more capital inflows and accentuate appreciation pressures....

The massive stocks of foreign exchange reserves, mostly held in the form of U.S. T-bonds by emerging economies, are still an important puzzle. Why do emerging economies continue to willingly loan to the United States despite the low rates of return? We suggest that a dynamic general equilibrium...

We propose a small open economy model where agents borrow internationally and invest in liquid foreign assets to insure against liquidity shocks, which temporarily shut out the economy of short-term credit markets. Due to the presence of a pecuniary externality individual agents borrow too much...

I establish a theoretical framework to address three distinct, but interrelated puzzles in international economics: (1) the occurrence of twin crises, (2) the existence of large amounts of sovereign debt, and (3) the presence of substantial amounts of international reserves. By considering the...

This paper discusses some of the domestic implications of the recent large-scale use of foreign exchange intervention by emerging market economies to resist currency appreciation. Over the past five years, many countries have adopted an accommodating monetary policy while intervening. Despite...

Motivated by the tension first revealed during the global financial crisis between thedomestic and international financial stability obligations of central bank reserve managers,this paper offers some reflections along four main lines. First, the paper highlights howofficial reserve management...

This paper studies from an empirical and theoretical perspective the systemic and bank-level effects of imposing reserve requirements (RR) in foreign currency in an economy with a heavily dollarized financial system. The paper empirically characterizes banks responses to the RR carried out by...

A DSGE model is developed to study the interaction between capital controls, macroprudential measures and monetary policy in an emerging economy. The main results are as follows. First, capital controls and macroprudential policies are able to mitigate the adverse effects of an increase in the...