Macroeconomic Volatility: The Policy Lessons from Latin America
IMF Working Papers, July 1, 2006
Source details
- Canonical URL
- Macroeconomic Volatility: The Policy Lessons from Latin America
Other formats
Bibliographic details
- Authors: Anoop Singh
- Published: July 1, 2006
- Series: IMF Working Papers
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781451864267.001
Overview and main findings
- The recent recovery in Latin America has been impressive but raises the question whether this represents a fundamental break with the region's history of boom-bust cycles.
- The paper traces how a history of macroeconomic volatility and financial crisis over the past century has adversely impacted growth and other development indicators.
- Policy instability is identified as a contributing factor to that volatility and to crisis recurrence.
- Recent policies in the region offer encouragement that these vulnerabilities are being addressed, but an important agenda still remains to be addressed.
Key substantive points
- Historical analysis: documents a century-long pattern of macroeconomic volatility and financial crises and links these episodes to adverse development outcomes.
- Policy role: emphasizes the role played by policy instability in amplifying volatility and undermining growth.
- Recent policy developments: notes that recent policy choices in Latin America provide encouraging signs of reduced vulnerability.
- Remaining agenda: highlights that, despite improvements, significant policy and structural work remains to consolidate gains and reduce future volatility.
Subjects and keywords
- Subject: Financial crises, Fiscal policy, Government asset and liability management, Inflation, Public debt
- Keywords: country, exchange rate, interest rate, terms of trade, WP
Source: IMF Working Papers — "Macroeconomic Volatility: The Policy Lessons from Latin America" by Anoop Singh, July 1, 2006.