Capital Flows and Capital Account Management in Selected Asian Economies

New Thinking and the New G20 Paper No. 9

April 2, 2015

Gross capital inflows and outflows to and from emerging market economies have witnessed a significant increase since the early 2000s. This rapid increase in the volume of flows, accompanied by sharp swings in volatility, has amplified the complexity of macroeconomic management in emerging economies. This paper focuses on capital flows in selected emerging Asian economies, analyzing surge and stop episodes as well as changes in the composition of flows across these episodes, then evaluating the policy measures undertaken by these economies in response to the surge and stop of capital flows. This kind of analysis is highly relevant, especially at a time when emerging economies around the world are facing the repercussions of a potential monetary policy normalization in the United States and continuing quantitative easing measures by the European Central Bank, either of which could once again heighten the volatility of cross-border capital flows, thereby posing renewed macroeconomic challenges for major EMEs.

Part of Series

New Thinking and the New G20

These papers are an output of a project that aims to promote policy and institutional innovation in global economic governance in two key areas: governance of international monetary and financial relations and international collaboration in financial regulation. With authors from eight countries, the 11 papers in this series add to existing knowledge and offer original recommendations for international policy cooperation and institutional innovation.

About the Authors

Rajeswari Sengupta is an assistant professor at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research in Mumbai, India. Her research focuses on international finance and open economy macroeconomics, with emphasis on policy-relevant, macrofinancial issues of emerging market economies.

Abhijit Sen Gupta is an economist with the Asian Development Bank in New Delhi.