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De Jure versus De Facto Exchange Rate Regimes in Sub-Saharan Africa

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  • Slavi T. Slavov

Abstract

There are 22 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) with floating exchange rate regimes, de jure. Statistical analysis on monthly data for the past decade reveals that in most cases these exchange rate regimes can be approximated surprisingly well by a soft peg to a basket dominated by the US dollar. The weight on the dollar appears to have fallen somewhat across the continent in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Replicating the model with weekly data suggests that the focus on the dollar might be even more pronounced at higher data frequencies. While there might be strong arguments in favour of limiting exchange rate volatility in SSA countries, soft-pegging to the dollar does not appear to be the best fit for them, given the currency structure of their external trade and finance. Copyright 2013 , Oxford University Press.

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  • Slavi T. Slavov, 2013. "De Jure versus De Facto Exchange Rate Regimes in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 22(5), pages 732-756, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jafrec:v:22:y:2013:i:5:p:732-756
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    Cited by:

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    2. Olivier Habimana, 2017. "Do flexible exchange rates facilitate external adjustment? A dynamic approach with time-varying and asymmetric volatility," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 625-642, October.
    3. Michael Bleaney & Mo Tian, 2020. "Exchange Rate Flexibility: How Should We Measure It?," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 31(4), pages 881-900, September.
    4. André C. Jordaan, 2015. "Choice of Exchange Rate Regime in a Selection of African Countries," Journal of African Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 215-234, September.
    5. Tamsir Cham, 2016. "An Assessment of External Price Competitiveness for the Gambia," Applied Economics and Finance, Redfame publishing, vol. 3(4), pages 207-216, November.
    6. Michael Bleaney & Mo Tian, 2021. "Reserve Volatility and the Identification of Exchange Rate Regimes," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 32(4), pages 701-723, September.
    7. Simatele, Munacinga & Sjö, Bo & Sweeny, Richard, 2016. "Do Developing Countries Lose Money on Central Bank Intervention? The Case of Zambia in Copper-Market Boom and Bust," LiU Working Papers in Economics 2, Linköping University, Division of Economics, Department of Management and Engineering.
    8. Cham, Tamsir, 2015. "An Assessment of External Price Competitiveness for The Gambia," Working Papers 1436-8, The Islamic Research and Teaching Institute (IRTI).
    9. Keefe, Helena Glebocki & Shadmani, Hedieh, 2018. "Foreign exchange market intervention and asymmetric preferences," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 148-163.
    10. Scott W. Hegerty, 2014. "Measuring Exchange Market Pressure and Its Contagion in the East African Community," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 82(2), pages 239-257, June.
    11. Rasaki, Mutiu Gbade & Malikane, Christopher, 2015. "Macroeconomic shocks and fluctuations in African economies," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 675-696.

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