Latin America’s Currency Roller Coaster

The collapse of Latin America’s currency pegs in the financial crises of the 1990’s led most countries to adopt a floating exchange rate. But authorities throughout the region have maintained the flexibility to intervene in order to preserve competitiveness - a policy that has insulated their economies from the worst effects of the recent crisis.

BUENOS AIRES – Ever since World War II, the countries of Latin America have served as something of a currency laboratory. Across the region, countless exchange-rate regimes have been tried – some succeeding, others failing abysmally.

In all cases, however, exchange-rate policies have played a central role in determining these countries’ overall macroeconomic results. And today, after two turbulent decades, they seem to be converging toward a more unified and sustainable framework.

The 1980’s was a harrowing decade for most Latin American countries. The second oil shock and high international interest rates, coupled with a lack of foreign investment, led to significant internal and external imbalances and high levels of foreign debt. In all the major countries, this resulted in defaults, significant and continuous exchange-rate adjustments, and, by the end of the decade, a severe inflation/devaluation spiral, bordering, in some cases, on hyperinflation.

https://prosyn.org/B4ZduT6