Long-Term External Position and Equilibrium Real Exchange Rate in Colombia

This paper calculates an equilibrium level for Net Foreign Assets (NFA) in Colombia, and discusses its implications for the real exchange rate (RER). In order to obtain the equilibrium level of NFA, we estimate a cointegrating vector with fixed-effects panel data adjusted by using Dynamic Least Squares (DOLS). From this estimated long-run level of NFA, we analyze the implications on the RER by means of the External Sustainability methodology, which allows deriving ideal levels for the current account and the RER. Our main results show that the NFA levels have been close to their long-run levelsin recent years. Furthermore, the RER has fluctuated above its ideal levels because the observed current account has been better than the normative levels implied by this estimation.