The Incidence of Capital Flow Management Measures: Observations from a New Database

This paper presents a highly granular database of nearly 500 capital flow management measures (CFMs) that cover 14 instruments and 49 countries at monthly frequency between 2008 and 2021. It sheds light on the incidence of CFMs along previously unexplored dimensions such as the nature of instruments used, and the asset class and direction of capital flows to which they were targeted. The paper also presents new indices of capital account policies to characterize the usage, stance and intensity of CFM policies. In comparison with existing indices of capital controls, we find that our data reveal significant intra-year changes in CFMs even when other indices exhibit stability over long periods. We find that a 'stock-taking' version of our data generates similar assessments about episodic versus long-standing controls as some other indices, suggesting that existing indices may be capturing low-frequency characteristics of capital account policies. Mahir Binici is a senior economist in the European Department of the IMF. Previously, he worked in the Strategy, Policy, and Review Department, where he focused on external policy issues, including those related to India. Prior to joining the IMF, he held positions as an economist at the Central Bank of Turkey and the European Central Bank. Mitali Das is an Advisor in the Fiscal Affairs Department of the IMF. Previously, she was Co-Chair of the IMF flagship publication, External Sector Report, led the analytical work on unemployment dynamics and labor shares for the World Economic Outlook, served on the IMF missions to China, Japan, and Nauru, and in the Office of the Chief Economist. Prior to the IMF, Ms. Das held academic appointments at Columbia University, Harvard University, Dartmouth College, and the University of California Davis. Evgenia Pugacheva is a research officer in the Research Department of the IMF, where she works on the World Economic Outlook report. Her research focuses on the macroeconomic implications of climate change, international trade, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to joining the IMF, she worked at the World Bank on the World Development Report. JEL Classification F3 * F33 * F36
1 Introduction Capital flow management measures (CFMs)--such as approval requirements, taxes on the acquisition of property, and outright prohibitions on cross-border transactions of financial assets--have been resurgent as crisis-management and [...]