Currency Mismatch in the Banking Sector in Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

Existing literature uses data based on the residence principle to proxy for currency mismatch. Nonetheless, these data are frequently not disaggregated by currency and cannot identify mismatches in the domestic market. This paper circumvents these issues by constructing a new data set on foreign currency assets and liabilities in the banking sector in Latin America and the Caribbean. The new data reveal a reduction in long foreign currency positions, with several countries taking short positions after 2006. Moreover, employing a methodology that accounts for time-varying unobservable characteristics, this reduction is shown to be partially explained by the implementation of prudential policies.