Central Banking in Latin America: From the Gold Standard to the Golden Years

March 17, 2015

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Format: Chicago

Luis Ignacio Jácome. Central Banking in Latin America: From the Gold Standard to the Golden Years, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2015) accessed December 21, 2024

Disclaimer: This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF.The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate

Summary

This paper provides a brief historical journey of central banking in Latin America to shed light on the debate about monetary policy in the post-global financial crisis period. The paper distinguishes three periods in Latin America’s central bank history: the early years, when central banks endorsed the gold standard and coped with the collapse of this monetary system; a second period, in which central banks turned into development banks under the aegis of governments at the expense of increasing inflation; and the “golden years,” when central banks succeeded in preserving price stability in an environment of political independence. The paper concludes by cautioning against overburdening central banks in Latin America with multiple mandates as this could end up undermining their hard-won monetary policy credibility.

Subject: Banking, Central bank legislation, Central banks, Currencies, Financial crises, Inflation, International reserves, Money, Prices

Keywords: Adjustable peg, Central America, Central bank, Central bank financing, Central bank independence, Central bank legislation, Central banks, Central banks in Latin America, Country, Currencies, Financing to the government, Global, Gold standard, Government, Government financing, Inflation, Inflation rate, International reserves, Latin America, U.S. dollar, WP

Publication Details

Pages:

57
Volume:

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DOI:

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Issue:

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Series:

Working Paper No. 2015/060
Stock No:

WPIEA2015060
ISBN:

9781484303184
ISSN:

1018-5941

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