Policy Responses to Aid Surges in Countries with Limited International Capital Mobility: The Role of the Exchange Rate Regime

We study the role of the exchange rate regime, reserve accumulation, and sterilization policies inthe macroeconomics of aid surges. Absent sterilization, a peg allows for almost full aid absorption — an increase in the current account deficit net of aid—delivering the same effects as those of a flexible regime but with a necessary increase in inflation. Regardless of the regime,policies that limit absorption—and result in large accumulation of reserves—are welfare reducing:they help reduce the real appreciation (and inflation under the peg), but at the expense of reducingprivate consumption and investment, and therefore medium-term growth.