This paper addresses three policy questions related to the episodes of real exchange rate (RER) appreciation in the aftermath of the 2008-09 global financial crisis. First, we determine the extent to which recent movements in RER, in several countries, are driven by changes in RER determinants...

This paper conducts an exhaustive out-of-sample forecasting evaluation exercise for the monthly price of crude oil between 1992 and 2011. The idea is to identify the forecasting strategy that results in the “best” forecasts in terms of mean forecasting error. To this end, a wide variety of...

Large holdings of foreign assets and liabilities, along with increasing relevance of valuation effects—capital gains or losses—have characterized global financial integration. In this paper, we assess empirically the implications of stocks, flows and valuation adjustments in external crises...

This paper compares domestic food, energy and core inflation in a sample of 44 countries during the recent commodities price boom-and-bust cycle, and explains differences across countries. In particular, it explores the role of structural and cyclical factors in explaining cross-country...

This paper provides a critical analysis of Kaminsky and Reinhart (1999) (KR), perhaps the most prominent empirical paper on causes of currency crises. After dealing with problems present in this paper, it proposes an aggregate leading indicator of crisis. The proposed indicator performs better...

Stops or reversals of foreign capital inflows can result in costly current account adjustments unless they are offset by other forms of external financing, such as capital inflows driven by a retrenchment of domestic investors. In this paper we propose a measure of vulnerability that...

This paper examines the growth and inflation forecasts contained in the Monetary Policy Reports (MPR) of the Central Bank of Chile, comparing them with private forecast, the forecasts made by the Bank during the previous decade, and the forecasts performed by other Central Banks that follow...