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Domestic Causes of Currency Crises: Policy Lessons for Crisis Avoidance

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  • Helmut Reisen

Abstract

The recent currency crises in Latin America and Asia have hit countries with strong macroeconomic fundamentals but weak domestic financial systems. Private capital flows, attracted by disorderly financial liberalisation and exchange rate pegs, reversed abruptly when financial-sector weaknesses became apparent. Often, domestic financial systems have proved too weak a conduit for heavy capital inflows, resulting in declining credit quality and financial vulnerability to speculative currency attacks. Developing countries are therefore advised to pay close attention to indicators of financial vulnerability, in particular to short-term debt levels as a fraction of official foreign exchange reserves, as well as to currency and maturity mismatches in private-sector balance sheets. This paper points to the avenues that can be pursued to avoid a rise in the vulnerability indicators above critical levels ...Some of these avenues are uncontroversial, but deceptively hard to implement. Good ... Les crises monétaires qui ont récemment frappé l’Asie et l’Amérique latine ont atteint des pays dotés de fondements macro-économiques solides, mais de systèmes financiers faibles. Les capitaux privés, attirés par une libéralisation financière sans contrainte et par les différentiels de taux de change, se sont retirés brusquement lorsque les faiblesses du secteur financier sont apparues au grand jour. Bien souvent, les systèmes financiers nationaux n’ont pas pu jouer correctement leur rôle d’intermédiation face à des entrées massives de capitaux. La qualité du crédit s’en est ressentie et les pays se sont trouvés vulnérables aux attaques spéculatives contre leur monnaie. Aussi faut-il conseiller aux pays en développement de surveiller étroitement les indicateurs de vulnérabilité financière, et notamment les niveaux d’endettement à court terme par rapport aux réserves officielles en devises, ainsi que les déséquilibres en devises au passif et à l’actif et les décalages des échéances ...

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  • Helmut Reisen, 1998. "Domestic Causes of Currency Crises: Policy Lessons for Crisis Avoidance," OECD Development Centre Working Papers 136, OECD Publishing.
    • Handle: RePEc:oec:devaaa:136-en
    DOI: 10.1787/137464158356
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    References listed on IDEAS

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