International reserves composition: central banks, exchange rate targets and gold, by Aleksandr V. Gevorkyan,
St. John’s University
Hosted by the Central Bank of Armenia, Dilijan, 11:00-13:00PM, August 2, 2017
Abstract:
This paper explores the composition of international reserves under an exchange rate target. The model allows for numerically calculating the shadow price – interpreted as the central bank’s sacrifice of policy precision given one more unit of portfolio variance – of the target exchange rate. The simulations indicate a two-regime demand for gold. The multiple equilibria results indicate that increasing the demand for gold from 0 to 21 percent shares of international reserves leads to a lower but unstable policy sacrifice. The next minimum sacrifice occurs approximately at around 40 to 60 percent of gold in the reserve portfolio. These results, therefore, indicate a wide range of possibilities for a central bank targeting the exchange rate to vary its demand for gold. Moreover, the results suggest that the ability to target the exchange rate is unaffected by the higher volatility of monthly returns on gold.
Location: Central Bank of Armenia, Dilijan, Armenia
Duration: 11:00-13:00PM
About presenter: Aleksandr V. Gevorkyan is assistant professor at St. John’s University, NY. His recent book (co-editor with Otaviano Canuto) Financial Deepening and Post-Crisis Development in Emerging Markets was published by Palgrave MacMillan in 2016. This research is co-authored with Tarron Khemraj of New College of Florida and Central Bank of Barbados.
AEA thanks CBA for co-sponsoring and hosting the workshop, and Professor Gevorkyan for his presentation.