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Foreign Exchange Market Intervention. Amie Colgan, Mary Deely, Fergus Colleran, Anna Nikolskaya. Exchange Rate Intervention. Buy or sell foreign currency/assets to affect the exchange rate Purchases push down the home currency value of the exchange rate Sales push it up.
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Foreign Exchange Market Intervention Amie Colgan, Mary Deely, Fergus Colleran, Anna Nikolskaya
Exchange Rate Intervention • Buy or sell foreign currency/assets to affect the exchange rate • Purchases push down the home currency value of the exchange rate • Sales push it up
Influencing the Exchange Rates Increasing the exchange rate Decreasing the exchange rate • Buy domestic currency and sell foreign assets • money supply • production • inflation • domestic interest rates • demand for investment • Increases exchange rate • Sell domestic currency and purchase foreign assets • money supply • production • domestic interest rates • demand for investment • Decreases exchange rate
Why Intervene? • Stabilise Fluctuations • International trade and investment decisions • Dependent on exchange rates • Reverse the growth in the country’s trade deficit • Rise when exchange rates rise • High currency – cheaper foreign goods and services • Increasing imports and reducing exports • Rising trade deficit – Intervention needed
Types of Intervention • Sterilized Intervention – has little or no effect on the exchange rate • Unsterilized Intervention – has a higher impact on exchange rates
How does Sterilized Intervention differ from Unsterilized Intervention?
Unsterilized Intervention • Central Banks purchase/sell domestic currency to sell/purchase foreign assets which expands/contracts the monetary base. • These actions may decrease/increase the money supply which in turn affects prices, inflation and in turn interest rates . • Passive approach of intervention by Central Banks. • Allows for foreign exchange markets to function without manipulation of the supply of domestic currency. • Has a higher effect on interest rates and liquidity.
Unsterilized Intervention • Unsterilized Intervention is used when a Central Bank wants to change it’s monetary conditions • It has an overall greater effect on money supply interest rates and foreign exchange rates. • It takes time to come into effect, not useful if Central Bank wants an immediate change in exchange rates. • Has long term effects on the exchange rates. • Not used as often because it conflicts with monetary policy.
Sterilized Intervention • Buying or selling domestic currency in order to sell or purchase foreign assets to slightly affect exchange rates. • This can expand or contract the monetary base. • Sterilising means offsetting this expansion/contraction by selling or purchasing government bonds in the domestic bond market to bring back the monetary base to it’s target level. • When Central Banks want to leave money supply and interest rates unaffected. • Maintains price stability
Sterilized Intervention • Intervention in exchange rates without affecting its domestic liquidity. • Process limits the amount of domestic currency available for exchange. • Altering its debt composition without affecting its monetary base. • Sterilised Intervention has little effect on long-term exchange rates. • Almost immediate effect on demand and supply of foreign exchange. • Affects expectations about future exchange rates, particularly if open market operations are hidden. • It’s effect on exchange rates is not as obvious an Unsterilized intervention.
Diagram of Sterilised Intervention where • AA and AA’ are the money supply • E is the exchange rate • Y is GDP • F is the equilibrium rate • D is demand for money
Effects of Central Bank Action on Exchange Rates • May be intentional or not • Motivation: (1) Resist short run trends in exchange rates (2) Correct medium-term “misalignments” of exchange rates away from fundamental values • Decline in the frequency of intervention
Federal Reserve • Quantitative Easing • Wed 18/3/09 –Fed announced it is to buy $300 billion in long term treasuries & $750 billion in mortgage-backed securities Create more liquidity –print money • Euro rose 3.2% to $1.342 after the statement
Statement of G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors: • “Excess volatility and disorderly movements in exchange rates have adverse implications for economic and financial stability.” • 14th February
Swiss National Bank (SNB) • 12th March • Aim: ‘push down’ Swiss franc • SNB cut its 3-month LIBOR target rate by 25 basis points (to historic low of 0.25%) • Sold francs for euros and dollars • SNB said it’s planning to increase liquidity by • Engaging in repo operations • Buying Swiss franc bonds issued by private sector borrowers • Purchasing foreign currency on the FX market
Swiss Franc Swiss Francs to 1 US dollar Swiss Franc to 1 Euro
Bank of England • 5th March • Quantitative easing: up to £150 billion • up to £75 billion mostly in medium and long-term gilts over next 3 months • £50 billion private-sector assets • Cut repo interest rate by 50 basis points to 0.5% • £ has depreciated against both € and $
British Pound British Pound to 1 US Dollar British Pound to 1 Euro