Private capital flows to emerging markets after the Mexican crisis

Abstract

The financial crisis in Mexico dramatically illustrated once again both the volatile nature of private capital flows to emerging markets and the potential for contagion of disturbances from some borrowers to others. It has also highlighted the policy issues confronted by host and creditor countries alike, including: how to devise an appropriate strategy for foreign borrowing and investment; how to manage macroeconomic, exchange rate, and supervisory policy in host countries in the face of large capital inflows; the sustainability of private flows over the medium term (now that foreign direct investment, bonds and portfolio equity flows have displaced bank loans as the dominant components of these flows); and the adequacy of existing national and international arrangements for cushioning the volatility of private capital flows. This book is published jointly with the Austrian National Bank.