The equilibrium real exchange rate in a commodity exporting country: Azerbaijan's experience

The equilibrium real exchange rate in a commodity exporting country: Azerbaijan's experience

The case of Azerbaijan serves to study the adequacy of exchange-rate policy in a resource-rich economy. This paper analyses the behaviour of Azerbaijan’s external accounts over the past twenty years. Declining oil prices made an existing exchange-rate peg unsustainable and led to a large devaluation in 2015. Since then, the current account balance has improved, but by less than expected. We use the EBA-Lite method to derive regression-based estimates of the equilibrium real exchange rate, and relate misalignments to measures of “policy gaps”. Our findings suggest that only a few years after the devaluation, Azerbaijan’s currency has once more become overvalued. Moreover, the equilibrium real exchange rate is volatile and hardly compatible with a long-run exchange rate peg. Exchange rate policy should try to accommodate shifts in the fundamental determinants such as relative productivity and real oil prices.

https://ereforms.gov.az/en/ekspert-yazilari/the-equilibrium-real-exchange-rate-in-a-commodity-exporting-country-azerbaijan-039-s-experience-58

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