Exchange Rate Regimes In Selected Advanced Transition Economies

Since beginning economic transition, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia have—with much success—employed diverse exchange rate regimes. As these countries approach EU accession, they will need to avoid the perils of too much or too little exchange rate variability when capital flows are likely to be large and volatile; narrow band arrangements in particular could be problematic. The exception is Estonia, where there are good arguments for retaining the currency board arrangement. Countries wishing to join the euro area at an early stage should not leave the removal of remaining capital controls to the last minute.

Integrating transition economies into the global commercial and trade market system is a prolonged and risky process. This book is a collection of studies dealing with the different issues related to the liberalization of external relations in economies moving from a socialist to a market-based system The focus is on external sector developments, and the topics deal with balance of payments conditions, exchange rate policies and regimes, international competitiveness, international capital flows, trade, and other matters related to the integration of transition economies into the world economy. An understanding of the principles involved and of the experiences of both transition and advanced economies during this process is crucial to ensure its ultimate success. Written by internationally recognized scholars, the chapters cover these issues in a systematic manner. The first section treats current account developments, capital flows, and exchange rate policies in transition countries, the second section deals with specific issues related to international trade, and the final section consists of six specific country experiences. In this final section, a chapter dealing with the Russian Federation discusses the collapse of the ruble in August 1998.

External sector policies and exchange rate policy are central to a country's economic performance and to the IMF's surveillance functions. The papers in this book, edited by Richard Barth and Chorng-Huey Wong, were presented at a seminar on Exchange Rate Policy in Developing and Transition Economies held by the IMF Institute. They analyze choices of exchange rate regimes, issues affecting management of exchange regimes, and specific types of regimes, including case studies from the former Soviet Union, Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

The foreign exchange market microstructures in developing and transition economies are characterized by the results from the IMF's 2001 Survey on Foreign Exchange Market Organization. The survey found that these markets are usually unified onshore spot markets for U.S. dollars, where transactions are concentrated at the bank-customer level. The trading mechanisms are usually dealer or mixed dealer/auction markets; the degree of transparency is often low; settlement systems remain risky; and the scope for price discovery is variable.

This paper reviews developments and issues in the exchange arrangements and currency convertibility of IMF members. Against the backdrop of continuing financial globalization and a series of emerging market crises since 1997, there have been important changes in the evolution of exchange rate regimes and the pace of liberalization of current and capital transactions among IMF member countries. There has been a shift away from intermediate regimes according to the IMF's official exchange rate regime classification system based on de facto exchange rate policies. The de facto exchange rate classification system has helped to clarify the nature and role of members' exchange rate regimes. It has facilitated discussions with country authorities about the implementation of exchange rate regimes and hence has contributed to more effective surveillance of the international monetary system. The use of exchange controls appears to have been little influenced by the degree of flexibility of exchange rate regimes or the occurrences of currency crises.

Using recent advances in the classification of exchange rate regimes, this paper finds no support for the popular bipolar view that countries will tend over time to move to the polar extremes of free float or rigid peg. Rather, intermediate regimes have shown remarkable durability. The analysis suggests that as economies mature, the value of exchange rate flexibility rises. For countries at a relatively early stage of financial development and integration, fixed or relatively rigid regimes appear to offer some anti-inflation credibility gain without compromising growth objectives. As countries develop economically and institutionally, there appear to be considerable benefits to more flexible regimes. For developed countries that are not in a currency union, relatively flexible exchange rate regimes appear to offer higher growth without any cost in credibility.

This paper builds upon previous International Monetary Fund (IMF) studies on various aspects of the exchange rate arrangements of IMF member countries consistent with the IMF's role of surveillance of members' exchange rate policies and over the international monetary system.The paper examines the consequences of increased capital mobility and of the integration of developing economies in globalised goods and financial markets for the exchange rate regimes both of the world's major currencies and of developing and transition countries.