Capital account regulations for stability and development: a new approach

Date
2011-11
DOI
Authors
Gallagher, Kevin
Griffith-Jones, Stephany
Ocampo, José Antonio
Version
OA Version
Citation
Abstract
In the wake of the financial crisis numerous emerging market and developing countries have been deploying what have traditionally been referred to as ‘capital controls’ to curb excessive speculation on their currencies and domestic assets. In response to those efforts, French President Nicolas Sarkozy called on the International Monetary Fund to develop a set of guidelines for the use of capital controls. The goal is for the President to present such guidelines at the G-20 Summit in Cannes this year. The IMF has published a preliminary set of guidelines to that end. This policy brief provides a critical review of those guidelines and offers an alternative protocol for a development friendly-approach to capital account regulation. In this policy brief, the co-conveners of the Pardee Center Task Force on Managing Capital Flows for Long-Run Development argue that capital account regulations (CARs) should be viewed as an essential tool in the macroeconomic policy toolkit. Based on discussions that occurred at the Task Force meeting in September 2011, the authors present an alternative set of guidelines for how and when CARs should be employed, and call for international financial institutions and international trade agreements to ensure that policy space remains available to allow developing countries to employ CARs when deemed necessary for financial stability and economic development.
Description
This repository item contains a single issue of Issues in Brief, a series of policy briefs that began publishing in 2008 by the Boston University Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future.
License
Copyright 2011 Boston University. Permission to copy without fee all or part of this material is granted provided that: 1. The copies are not made or distributed for direct commercial advantage; 2. the report title, author, document number, and release date appear, and notice is given that copying is by permission of BOSTON UNIVERSITY TRUSTEES. To copy otherwise, or to republish, requires a fee and / or special permission.