Does real exchange rate devaluation improve the current account balance of highly indebted low income countries?

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 212-225
Author(s):  
Getaneh Mihret Ayele
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Exchange Rate ◽  
Real Exchange Rate ◽  
Current Account ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Current Account Balance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Long Run ◽  
The Current Account

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine whether real exchange rate devaluation improves the current account balance of four highly indebted low-income countries of East Africa. Design/methodology/approach The pooled mean group (PMG) approach is used for panel data from four countries over the period 1970–2016. The paper also applied bound testing and ARDL model for time-series data from individual sample countries. Findings The panel PMG/ARDL estimation result reveals that real exchange rate devaluation has no significant impact on the current account balance, both in the short and long run. However, the time-series analysis using the bound testing and restricted ARDL estimation suggests that real exchange rate devaluation improves the current account balance in the long run for only Ethiopia. The overall empirical results reveal that the current account balance would improve with the rising domestic income while it deteriorates with increasing foreign income and external indebtedness in the long run. Originality/value The paper is original.

Re-examining the twin deficit hypothesis for major South Asian economies

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-287
Author(s):  
Shruti Shastri
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Exchange Rate ◽  
Interest Rate ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Current Account ◽  
Transmission Mechanism ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Long Run

Purpose The purpose of this study is to revisit the twin deficit hypothesis (TDH) and provide insights into the transmission mechanism connecting budget deficits and current account deficits for five major South Asian countries, namely, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan Sri Lanka and Nepal for the period 1985-2016. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a multivariate framework including real interest rate, real exchange rate and real gross domestic product to avoid the possibility of incorrect inferences caused by omission of relevant mediating variables. The long-run relationship and causality are investigated through the autoregressive distributed lag bounds testing approach and Toda Yamamoto approach, respectively, for each individual country. The robustness of the results is assessed with the help of Westerlund’s cointegration test and group mean fully modified ordinary least squares (GM-FMOLS), group mean dynamic ordinary least square (GM-DOLS) and common correlated effect mean group (CCEMG) estimators in the panel framework. Findings Both time series and panel evidences indicate long-run relationship between budget balance (BB) and current account balance (CAB) together with the mediating variables. The results indicate bi-directional causation between the two balances for India and Bangladesh, TDH for Pakistan and Sri Lanka and the reverse causation from CAB to BB for Nepal. Regarding the transmission mechanism, the results indicate the absence of the causal chain postulated by Mundell–Fleming, which predicts that BB causes CAB via interest rate and exchange rate. A CCEMG estimate of the import demand function reveals a positive government spending elasticity of imports suggesting that BB affects CAB by direct impact through demand. Originality/value This study augments the twin deficit literature on South Asian countries by providing insights into the transmission mechanism connecting the BB and CAB. Moreover, the study provides robust evidences on the TDH by using both time series and panel data techniques.

Policy shocks, current account and the macroeconomy in a developing country

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 710-726
Author(s):  
Moumita Basu ◽  
Ranjanendra Narayan Nag
Keyword(s):  
Exchange Rate ◽  
Developing Country ◽  
Foreign Exchange ◽  
Current Account ◽  
Current Account Balance ◽  
Foreign Exchange Reserves ◽  
Effective Demand ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Traded Goods ◽  
The Current Account

Purpose This is a theoretical paper in the field of international macroeconomics. The purpose of this paper is to focus on a dynamic interaction between current account imbalance and unemployment in response to some policy-induced shocks for a small open economy under a flexible exchange rate. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a two-sector framework: one sector is traded and another is the non-traded sector that is subject to an effective demand constraint. The current account imbalance arises due to the discrepancy between production of traded goods, household consumption of traded goods and government purchases of importables. The authors keep the asset structure simple by considering only domestic currency and foreign bonds that are imperfect substitutes. The paper considers a standard methodology of dynamic adjustment process involving change in foreign exchange reserves and exchange rate under perfect foresight. The saddle path properties of the equilibrium are also examined. Findings The results of comparative static exercises depend on a set of structural features of a developing country, which include asset substitutability, wage price rigidity and sectoral asymmetries. The paper shows that expansionary monetary policy, balanced budget fiscal expansion and financial liberalization have an ambiguous effect on the current account balance, foreign exchange reserves, non-traded sector and the level of employment. Originality/value The existence of Keynesian unemployment with fixed prices is the key ingredient of this paper. The paper introduces the problem of effective demand to analyze the dynamics of current account balance and exchange rate, which, in turn, determine the sectoral composition of output and level of employment.

scholarly journals Exchange Rate Management: The Case of Malaysia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yusuf Haji Othman ◽  
Goh Soo Khoon ◽  
Dawood M. Mithani
Keyword(s):  
Exchange Rate ◽  
Random Walk ◽  
Real Exchange Rate ◽  
Current Account ◽  
Government Spending ◽  
Policy Implication ◽  
Exchange Rate Policy ◽  
Current Account Balance ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Rate Policy

This paper sought to examine whether Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) can become a predictor model for exchange rate. We try to determine whether at least some variant of the PPP-oriented rule may be used in Malaysia as a basis for exchange rate policy. Two methods are used to examine whether longrun PPP holds. The first method is testing whether or not the real exchange rate follows a random walk. The second is the Johansen procedure to test for a long-run relationship between real exchange rate and real economic shocks. It is found that the ringgit real exchange rate follows a random walk, which means PPP does not hold. However, supportive evidence is also seen that there is a long-run relationship between ringgit real exchange rate with current account balance and government spending. The policy implication of this important finding is that some variant of the PPP-oriented rule may be used in Malaysia as a basis for exchange rate policy. Government spending and current account balance can be used as a guide to determine the movement of real exchange rate. The error-correction model shows that real exchange rate, government spending and current account all adjusted to long-run equilibrium. It has a very important policy implication. Fiscal policy, which controls government expenditure, can be used as a tool to manage exchange rate. Measures have to be taken to increase export while at the same time import has to be reduced to maintain the current account balance to be in surplus. This will strengthen the ringgit, thus helping to stabilize the ringgit exchange rate.

The Sources of Indonesia’s Current Account Balance Fluctuations: An Empirical Test of the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM)

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 16
Author(s):  
Tri Winarno
Keyword(s):  
Exchange Rate ◽  
Current Account ◽  
Trade Balance ◽  
Real Effective Exchange Rate ◽  
Current Account Balance ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Effective Exchange ◽  
Effective Exchange Rate ◽  
Exchange Rate Depreciation ◽  
The Current Account

Identifying the sources of current account balance fluctuations is critical to formulating Indonesia’s macroeconomic policies which maintain both internal and external balance to guarantee sustainable economic development as mandated by The Central Bank of Indonesia Act. This study is an attempt to investigate the long-run relationship between the current account balance (including total trade balance and non-oil and gas trade balance), world exports, domestic income (a proxy by industrial production index), and real effective exchange rate in the case of Indonesia’s economy. Based on the traditional approach of elasticity (Marshall Lerner condition) and by applying the VECM method to monthly data for the period January of 2008 up to December 2012, the investigation to examine the existence of a long-run equilibrium relationship between the current account balance and its sources is conducted. Additionally, variance decompositions (VDCs) and impulse response functions (IRFs) are used to draw further inferences. The result of the VECM method indicates that there is a stable long-run relationship between the current account balance and real effective exchange rate, domestic income and world exports variables. The estimated results show that real effective exchange rate depreciation is positively related to the current account balance in the long run, consistent with the Marshall Lerner condition. This study also finds evidence of the J-curve on Indonesia's current account balance. This suggests that following a real effective exchange rate depreciation, the Indonesia current account balance will initially deteriorate but improve in the long-run. Thus the exchange rate policy can help improve the current account balance. Furthermore, the results provide strong evidence that world exports and domestic income play a strong role in determining the behavior of the current account balance. 

Foreign capital inflows and economic growth: the experience of low-income countries in Sub Saharan Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Atif Awad
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Foreign Capital ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Capital Inflows ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Foreign Capital Inflows ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the long-run impact of selected foreign capital inflows, including aid, remittances, foreign direct investment (FDI), trade and debt, on the economic growth of 21 low-income countries in the Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) region, during the period 1990–2018. Design/methodology/approach To obtain this objective and for robust analysis, a parametric approach, which was dynamic ordinary least squares, and a non-parametric technique, which was fully modified ordinary least squares, were used. Findings The results of both models confirmed that, in the long run, trade and aid affected the growth rate of the per capita income in these countries in a positive way. However, external debt seemed to have an adverse influence on such growth. Originality/value First, this is the initial study that has addressed this matter across a homogenous group of countries in the SSA region. Second, while most of the previous studies regarding capital inflows into the SSA region have focused on the impact of only one or two aspects of such foreign capital inflows on growth, the present study, instead, examined the impact of five types of foreign capital inflows (aid, remittances, FDI, trade and debt).

The real equilibrium exchange rate in a commodity­exporting economy: the experience of Azerbaijan

2021 ◽  
pp. 25-38
Author(s):  
Vusal Gasimli ◽  
Vusala Jafarova
Keyword(s):  
Exchange Rate ◽  
Real Exchange Rate ◽  
Oil Prices ◽  
Exchange Rate Policy ◽  
Current Account Balance ◽  
Equilibrium Exchange Rate ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Equilibrium Exchange ◽  
Rate Policy ◽  
Relative Productivity

The case of Azerbaijan serves to study the adequacy of exchange-rate policy in a resource-rich economy. This paper analyses the behavior of Azerbaijan’s external accounts over the past twenty years. Declining oil prices made an existing exchange-rate peg unsustainable and led to a large devaluation in 2015. Since then, the current account balance has improved, but by less than expected. We use the EBA-Lite method to derive regression-based estimates of the equilibrium real exchange rate, and relate misalignments to measures of “policy gaps”. Our findings suggest that only a few years after the devaluation, Azerbaijan’s currency has once more become overvalued. Moreover, the equilibrium real exchange rate is volatile and hardly compatible with a long-run exchange rate peg. Exchange rate policy should try to accommodate shifts in the fundamental determinants such as relative productivity and real oil prices.

What Explains Current Account Surplus in Korea?

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 70-93
Author(s):  
Chirok Han ◽  
Kwanho Shin
Keyword(s):  
Exchange Rate ◽  
Fiscal Policy ◽  
Current Account ◽  
Current Account Balance ◽  
Budget Deficits ◽  
Current Account Surplus ◽  
Short Run ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Current Account

Since the currency crisis in 1998, Korea has experienced continuous current account surpluses. Recently, the current account surplus increased more rapidly—amounting to 7.7 percent of GDP in 2015. In this paper, we investigate the underlying reasons for the widening of Korea's current account surpluses. We find that the upward trend in Korea's current account surpluses is largely explained by its demographical changes. Other economic variables are only helpful when explaining short run fluctuations in current account balances. Moreover, we show that Korea's current account surplus is expected to disappear by 2042 as it becomes one of the most aged economies in the world. Demographic changes are so powerful that they explain, quite successfully, the current account balance trends of other economies with highly aged populations such as Japan, Germany, Italy, Finland, and Greece. When we add the real exchange rate as an additional explanatory variable, it is statistically significant with the right sign, but the magnitude explained by it is quite limited. For example, to reduce the current account surplus by 1 percentage point, a 12 percent depreciation is needed. If Korea's current exchange rate is undervalued 4 to 12 percent less than the level consistent with fundamentals, it is impossible to reduce Korea's current account surplus to a reasonable level by adjusting the exchange rate alone. Another way to reduce current account surplus is to expand fiscal policies. We find, however, that the impact of fiscal adjustments in reducing current account surplus is even more limited. According to our estimates, reducing the current account surplus by 1 percentage point requires an increase in budget deficits (as a ratio to GDP) of 5 to 6 percentage points. If we allow endogenous movements of exchange rate and fiscal policy, the impact of exchange rate adjustment increases by 1.6 times but that of fiscal policy decreases that it is no longer statistically significant.

scholarly journals The Harberger-Laursen-Metzler Effect: Evidence from Pakistan

2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tayyaba Idrees ◽  
Saira Tufail
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Current Account ◽  
Vector Autoregression ◽  
Real Income ◽  
Terms Of Trade ◽  
Temporary Increase ◽  
Current Account Balance ◽  
Time Series Dataset ◽  
The Current Account

According to the Harberger-Laursen-Metzler (HLM) effect, an exogenous temporary increase in the terms of trade leads to an improvement in the current account balance. This paper uses a recursive vector autoregression to investigate empirically the existence of the HLM effect in Pakistan, using a time series dataset for the period 1980–2009. Two important results emerge. First, real income deteriorates with an improvement in the terms of trade. Second, the current account balance also responds negatively to innovations in the terms of trade, which implies that the HLM effect does not exist in Pakistan.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document