Dollarization as a Monetary Arrangement for Emerging Market Economies


Book Description

Official dollarization refers to the adoption of the United States dollar as legal tender in place of the national currency. Some Latin American countries have recently dollarized, and others have seriously considered dollarization. This article discusses the reasons behind the surge of interest in dollarization and provides a review of the new academic literature on the topic. It discusses in detail some of the factors that are commonly considered to be the important costs and benefits of dollarizing. The paper also provides an analysis of the existing liability dollarization in several countries and its relation with official dollarization. Finally, it briefly looks at dollarization from the perspective of the United States.




Implementing Official Dollarization


Book Description

This paper identifies key aspects that countries willing to officially dollarize must necessarily address. Based on country experiences, it discusses the critical institutional bases that are necessary to unilaterally introduce a new legal tender, describes the relevant operational issues to smooth the transition toward the use of the new currency, and identifies key structural reforms that are necessary to favor the sustainability over time of this monetary regime. The paper is aimed at providing preliminary guidance to policy makers and practitioners adopting official dollarization. The paper does not take a position on how appropriate this monetary arrangement is. Experiences from adopting dollarization in Ecuador, El Salvador, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Timor-Leste are illustrated briefly.




Monetary Integration and Dollarization


Book Description

This book brings together an impressive and diverse group of authors to discuss its central theme: whether or not the dollarized international monetary system is sustainable in the context of the global economy it helped create. In addition to its uniquely well-rounded and comprehensive coverage of the issues, this lively and highly readable volume provides an accurate assessment of the lack of consensus in the current debate. A must read for anyone interested in currency crises and the increasing vulnerability of the dollar. Jane D Arista, Director of Progams, Financial Markets Center, US This book deals with the economic consequences of monetary integration, which has long been dominated by the Optimal Currency Area (OCA) paradigm. In this model, money is perceived as having developed from a private sector cost minimization process to facilitate transactions. Not surprisingly, the book argues, the main advantage of monetary integration in the OCA context is the reduction of transaction costs, yet the validity of OCA to analyze processes of monetary integration seems to be limited at best. The contributors in this volume try to go beyond the OCA model and understand the political economy of monetary integration by comparing the European Monetary Union with the dollarization (formal and informal) process in Latin America. The contributors, many of whom are leading lights, reflect the disagreements and the changing views on the proper monetary arrangements in a globalized world and suggest that monetary integration and dollarization are not the solution for the great majority of countries around the world. Monetary Integration and Dollarization brings together mainstream and heterodox views of monetary integration and uses the European and North American experiences as a guide for the discussion of dollarization in developing countries. It will appeal to scholars, researchers and policy makers in the fields of financial and international economics.




Understanding Dollarization


Book Description

A very commonly observed phenomenon in developing and emerging market economies is the use of another country’s currency (whether the US dollar or another currency) in lieu or in addition to the local currency. The most common type of this financial phenomenon is partial (de facto) dollarization where foreign currencies are used side by side with local currency for saving and borrowing purposes in addition to serving as medium of exchange. Governments in these countries have been encouraging dollarization for years by allowing their citizens to save and borrow from local banks in foreign currency. Yet the existence of multiple currencies on banks' balance sheets on both the asset and liability side poses risks to the health and stability of the banking system. This book evaluates the practical aspects of partial dollarization in countries such as Turkey, South Korea, Peru, and Cambodia among others. Starting with the origins of the phenomenon, the impact on banking systems and financial depth of the credit markets are discussed along with risks to the banking systems. Challenges faced by Central Banks and banking regulators are evaluated using recent country studies.




The Dollarization Debate


Book Description

This book takes a global approach to one of today's most controversial topics in business: Dollarization. With the collapse of the former Soviet Union, and the formation of the Euro in Europe, many countries are debating whether or not a common currency is in their best interest. This intriguing volume brings together the leading participants in the current dollarization debates.




Financial Dollarization


Book Description

This volume provides a rigorous and balanced perspective on the causes and implications of dollarization, and the basic policies and options to deal with it: the adaptation of the monetary and prudential frameworks, the development of local-currency substitutes, and the scope for limiting dollarization through administrative restrictions.




Causes and Problems of Dollarization


Book Description

Seminar paper from the year 2020 in the subject Economics - Foreign Trade Theory, Trade Policy, grade: 1,3, University of Leipzig (Institute for Economic Policy), course: Financial Development and Innovation in Developing Countries and Emerging Markets, language: English, abstract: This paper discusses the causes and problems associated with dollarization. Based on the results, it addresses the questions of how high dollarization rates can be evaluated and, in particular, whether it is advisable to opt for full dollarization (FD) or to what extent policymakers should rather aim for de-dollarization. As an introduction to the discussion, Chapter 2 will give a short illustration of the theoretical concepts of dollarization. Chapter 3 will then explain the causes of dollarization. The subsequent description of the advantages of FD in Chapter 4, which can also be cited as a reason for high rates of dollarization,3 leads directly to the problems associated with dollarization in Chapter 5. These problems arise – unless otherwise stated – both from high dollarization rates and from FD. The research up to Chapter 5 concentrates on a more theoretical level. The discussion on how to evaluate the causes and problems in Chapter 6 tries to link theoretical concepts with more general empirical analyses. Chapter 7 provides a brief conclusion of the most important findings and concludes with recommendations for future research. “Dollarization has evolved as one of the noteworthy features of globalization during the last two decades.” Although Mr. Yilmaz, the then Governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, said this sentence at a conference on dollarization in December 2006, it remains more relevant than ever. Due to the increasing integration of the international financial system, the lifting of restrictions on capital mobility and the growing volume of trade, the debate on dollarization met with a growing interest in the 1990s. Nonetheless, today's economic journals are still filled with new publications on dollarization.




Exchange Rate Arrangements for Emerging Market Economies


Book Description

Reviews some empirical evidence on the recent performance of alternative exchange rate arrangements in emerging markets. Examines the concrete circumstances under which either polar regime should be adopted. Studies how to make flexibility work in practice, with special attention to inflation targets and alternativie monetary policy rules. Focuses on the possible role of capital controls as a complementary policy.




Dollarization and Financial Development


Book Description

Despite significant strides in financial development over the past decades, financial dollarization, as reflected in elevated shares of foreign currency deposits and credit in the banking system, remains common in developing economies. We study the impact of financial dollarization, differentiating across foreign currency deposits and credit on financial depth, access and efficiency for a large sample of emerging market and developing countries over the past two decades. Panel regressions estimated using system GMM show that deposit dollarization has a negative impact on financial deepening on average. This negative impact is dampened in cases with past periods of high inflation. There is also some evidence that dollarization hampers financial efficiency. The results suggest that policy efforts to reduce dollarization can spur faster and safer financial development.




Full Dollarization


Book Description

Analyzes the costs and benefits of full dollarization, or the adoption by one country of another country's currency. Potential advantages include lower borrowing costs and deeper integration into world markets. But countries lose the ability to devalue, and become dependent on the U.S. Compares with currency board option.