| Abstract: | Many emerging market economies have relied on foreign exchange intervention 
(FXI) in response to gross capital inflows. In this paper, we study whether 
FXI has been an effective tool to dampen the effects of these inflows on the 
exchange rate. To deal with endogeneity issues, we look at the response of 
different countries to plausibly exogenous gross inflows, and explore the 
cross country variation of FXI and exchange rate responses. Consistent with 
the portfolio balance channel, we find that larger FXI leads to less exchange 
rate appreciation in response to gross inflows. |