Financial Liberalization And Its Impact On Monetary Policy

The focus of this study is to identify similarities and differences of monetary policy in Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Chile, Argentina, and Mexico following diverging financial liberalization strategies. The evolution of monetary transmission channels, targets and instruments is examined in connection with the timing and sequencing of financial reforms. Money demand functions are analyzed with respect to stability, causality, and structural breaks. It is shown that the gradual (Asian) liberalization strategy affected monetary policy in a different way than the big-bang (Latin American) approach. Constraints on monetary management are imposed by complex monetary transmission channels changing in view of financial sector crises, alterations in exchange rate regimes, and the increasing globalization of financial markets.

This book is the thirteenth volume in the International Papers in Political Economy (IPPE) series which explores the latest developments in political economy. A collection of eight papers, the book concentrates on the deregulation of domestic financial markets and discusses financial liberalisation in terms of its past performance, current progress and future developments. The chapters have been written by expert contributors in the field and focus on topics such as past records of financial liberalisation, future policies of regulation, and current account imbalances. Other papers examine capital account regulations in developing and emerging countries, and capital controls in the Eurozone after the 2007 financial crisis. This collection of papers invites readers to consider the impact of financial liberalisation both during and after the global economic crisis. Scholars and students with an interest in political economy, financialisation, and economic performance will find this collection stimulating and informative.

A study of 53 countries during 1980-95 finds that financial liberalization increases the probability of a banking crisis, but less so where the institutional environment is strong. In particular, respect for the rule of law, a low level of corruption, and good contract enforcement are relevant institutional characteristics. the data also show that, after liberalization, financially repressed countries tend to have improved financial development even if they experience a banking crisis. This is not true for financially restrained countries. This paper’s results support a cautious approach to financial liberalization where institutions are weak, even if macroeconomic stabilization has been achieved.

This paper examines the impact of financial market development and liberalization on money demand behavior in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand since the early 1980s. The empirical results indicate continuing instability in the interaction of money growth, economic activity, and inflation. Rapid growth and ongoing changes in financial markets suggest that policy needs to be guided by a wider set of monetary and real sector indicators of inflationary pressures. The feasibility of alternative policy frameworks--including nominal exchange rate targets, and inflation targets--is discussed in the context of the substantial and sustained increase in foreign capital inflows.

Japan has become the world's second largest economy and the number one exporter of financial capital. Tokyo has taken its place as a first-tier financial centre alongside London and New York. This study analyses the far-reaching effects of these developments on both Japan and the world capital markets.

China has been moving to a more market oriented financial system, which has implications for the monetary policy environment. The paper investigates the stability of the money demand function (MDF) in light of progress in financial sector reforms that, for example, have resulted in significant financial innovation (so-called shadow banking) and more liberalized interest rates. The analysis of international experience suggests that rapid development of the financial system often leads to structural shifts in the MDF. For example, financial innovation and liberalization alter the sensitivity of money balances to income and the interest rate. For China, we find that the stable long-run relationship between money demand, output, and interest rates that existed between 2002 and 2008 disappears after 2008. This coincides with the period of rapid financial innovation, especially the growth in off-balance sheet and nonbank financial intermediation. The results suggest that usefulness of M2 as an intermediate monetary target has declined with financial innovation and reform. A result that underscores the importance of moving toward increased reliance on more price-based targets such as interest rates.

Experiences with Financial Liberalization provides a broad spectrum of policy experiences relating to financial liberalization around the globe since the 1960s. There is a sizable body of theoretical and aggregative empirical literature in this area, but there is little work documenting and analyzing the experiences of individual countries and/or sets of countries. This book is divided into four parts by geographical region - Africa, Asia and Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. Aggregative econometric studies cannot substitute for country-wide studies in allowing the researcher to draw lessons for the future, and this volume adds to this relatively small body of literature.

This study examines the financial reforms undertaken by nine Asian countries in the 1980s (Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand) and their implications for money demand and monetary policy.

This paper undertakes a survey of theoretical considerations and an analysis of the experience of five African countries with interest rate liberalization. Despite substantial progress in monetary policy reforms, liberalization has only partially affected the level and variability of interest rates. Several factors—macroeconomic instability, oligopolistic financial markets, the absence of developed capital markets, as well as the sequencing of the liberalization programs and the asymmetric availability of information—explain the increase in the spread between lending and deposit rates as well as the rather inflexible pattern of interest rates during the transition to a market-based financial system.