Reserve Option Mechanism : Does it Work as an Automatic Stabilizer?
Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) designed and implemented a new scheme since end-2011, called reserve options mechanism (ROM) in order to alleviate the adverse impact of capital flow volatility on the domestic economy. Although there are numerous studies on the mechanics of ROM, there has been no attempt to investigate the determinants of the ROM utilization in practice. In this paper, we aim to fill this gap by using bank-level data to assess the behavioral aspects of ROM. Our results suggest that the relative cost of Turkish lira funding to foreign currency funding as well as the reserve option coefficients set by the CBRT largely explains the variations in the ROM utilization. We find that the most relevant proxy for the cost of Turkish lira funding for banks is overnight money market interest rates and the weighted average cost of CBRT funding. Moreover, foreign currency liquidity does not seem to be a significant parameter in driving the utilization of ROM. We argue that the systematic policy induced movements in the short term domestic interest rates—higher during outflows, lower during inflows—may undermine the automatic stabilizer feature of ROM. And we propose an adjustment in the remuneration of reserve requirements to strengthen the automatic stabilizer effect of ROM.
Reserve Options Mechanism: A New Macroprudential Tool to Limit the Adverse Effects of Capital Flow Volatility on Exchange Rates
Reserve Options Mechanism (ROM), which is the option to hold FX or gold reserves in increasing tranches in place of Turkish Lira reserve requirements of Turkish banks, was designed and launched by the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT). ROM is a tool unique to the CBRT and it is aimed to support the FX reserve management of the banking system and to limit the adverse effects of excess capital flow volatility on the macroeconomic and financial stability of Turkey. In this paper, we study the effectiveness of ROM on the volatility of Turkish Lira, and to the best of our knowledge, it is the first analytical paper on investigating the effects of the ROM. The results suggest that ROM is an effective policy tool in decreasing the volatility of Turkish lira during the sample period.
Alternative Tools to Manage Capital Flow Volatility
Heightened volatility in cross-border capital flows has increased exchange rate volatility across emerging markets as well as in advanced economies, setting the stage for more active management of currencies. Traditionally, foreign exchange rate intervention has been the primary tool to address these types of challenges. However, given the limitations of foreign exchange rate intervention, it may be well worthwhile to explore alternative mechanisms for dealing with capital flow volatility. This paper explains how the new policy framework adopted by the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) in the past two years has eased the need to conduct FX interventions. We first describe the rationale for the new policy framework, which is an augmented version of inflation targeting, with more emphasis on macro financial risks. Next, we explain the new instruments developed by the CBRT and their contribution to coping with capital flow volatility. In particular, we focus on the Reserve Option Mechanism, which is designed as a shock absorber for volatile capital flows, and thus reduces the need for FX intervention. We demonstrate that, since the adoption of new policy tools, the volatility of the Turkish lira has been remarkably low in comparison with the currencies of peer economies.