This study examines foreign exchange intervention based on novel daily data covering 33 countries from 1995 to 2011. We find that intervention is widely used and an effective policy tool, with a success rate in excess of 80 percent under some criteria. The policy works well in terms of smoothing...

This study examines foreign exchange intervention based on novel daily data covering 33 countries from 1995 to 2011. We find that intervention is widely used and an effective policy tool, with a success rate in excess of 80 percent under some criteria. The policy works well in terms of smoothing...

This paper compares the performance of various diversification strategies regarding foreign exchange reserves. The aim is to provide central banks with guidelines in portfolio allocation. We pay particular attention to the situation of upward pressures on U.S. interest rates by implementing our...

In the wake of the Lehman crisis, intervention in the foreign exchange market has been a topic of increasing relevance in central banking, particularly for small and medium open economies like Argentina. This has implied a change in focus to deal with some problems arising from the combination...

During the 2007-10 financial crisis, central banks accumulated a vast amount of experience in acting as lenders of last resort. This paper reviews the various ways that central banks provided emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) during the crisis, and discusses issues for the design of ELA...

After the Fed adopted its unconventional monetary policy, countries with strong surpluses faced fewer challenges than did those with more open economies and strong financial linkages with developed economies. In the case of Saudi Arabia, fiscal policy remains dominant due to the structure of the...

This note reviews central banks' views on the objectives, methods and effectiveness of foreign exchange intervention, according to their responses to a survey questionnaire. Due to the recent global financial crisis, objectives have shifted to focus more on curbing capital flows and exchange...

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 analyzes whether and how central banks can use currency options to lower exchange rate volatility and maintain (implicit) target zones in foreign exchange markets. It argues that selling rather than buying options will result in market makers dynamically hedging their long option...