July 2021 (Revised October 2024)

U.S. Monetary Policy Spillovers to Emerging Markets: Both Shocks and Vulnerabilities Matter

Shaghil Ahmed, Ozge Akinci, Albert Queralto

Abstract:

We use a macroeconomic model to explore how policy drivers and country vulnerabilities matter for the transmission of U.S. monetary policy shifts to emerging markets. Our model features imperfections in domestic and international financial markets and imperfectly anchored inflation expectations. We show that higher U.S. interest rates arising from stronger U.S. demand generate modestly positive spillovers to activity in emerging markets with stronger fundamentals but can be adverse for vulnerable countries. In contrast, U.S. monetary tightenings driven by a more-hawkish policy stance cause a substantial slowdown in all emerging markets. Our model captures the challenging policy tradeoffs that emerging market central banks face, and we show that these tradeoffs are more favorable when inflation expectations are well anchored. We use our model to estimate the effects on emerging markets of the 2022-23 U.S. monetary tightening and compare the model-predicted effects against actual real and financial outcomes in those countries.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17016/IFDP.2021.1321r1

PDF: Full Paper

Original Paper: PDF

Disclaimer: The economic research that is linked from this page represents the views of the authors and does not indicate concurrence either by other members of the Board's staff or by the Board of Governors. The economic research and their conclusions are often preliminary and are circulated to stimulate discussion and critical comment. The Board values having a staff that conducts research on a wide range of economic topics and that explores a diverse array of perspectives on those topics. The resulting conversations in academia, the economic policy community, and the broader public are important to sharpening our collective thinking.

Back to Top
Last Update: October 25, 2024