The Role of the International Monetary Fund After the 2008 Crisis

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the changes in the functions of the International Monetary Fund after the 2008 financial crisis. Following an extensive introduction concerning the subject of the study and which covers part of the economic literature, the focus was on governance reform and surveillance in the foreign exchange market. Finally, the empirical analysis was carried out concerning the manipulation of exchange rates in a period ranging from 2008-2016 and 15 countries (Taiwan, South Korea, Israel, China, Thailand, Macao, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Norway, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Trinidad and Tobago and Saudi Arabia) that in the period considered massively intervened in the foreign exchange market, keeping their respective currencies undervalued and acquiring an unfair competitive advantage to the detriment of partner economies. The results would tend to confirm that the manipulation of the exchange rate is a persistent and lasting element of the currency policies of the new millennium, highlighting an active insufficiency of the IMF’s action in the exercise of the oversight function on the currency policies of the Members.