The 2nd Joint Regional Financing Arrangement (RFA) Research Seminar

Location: Santa Teresa Hotel, Cartagena de Indias, Colombia

The 2nd Joint Regional Financing Arrangement (RFA) Research Seminar co-organized by the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO), the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), and the Fondo Latinoamericano de Reservas (FLAR), will be held on May 17 and 18, 2018 in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. The seminar is an annual event aiming at bringing academics and institutions together to discuss key issues pertaining to global and regional financial stability.
FLAR Executive President Mr José Darío Uribe and AMRO Deputy Director Mr Yasuto Watanabe will deliver the opening remarks. The event will comprise three sessions. The first session, led by ESM Chief Economist Mr Rolf Strauch will focus on the collaboration among the multiple layers of the Global Financial Safety Net. Chaired by AMRO Chief Economist Dr Hoe Ee Khor, the second session will discuss Design of conditionality and country ownership. The last session, led FLAR Director of Economic Studies Mr Carlos Giraldo, will discuss regional economic integration and the role of RFAs.

Among the discussants and speakers will be renowned academics and experts, representatives from international, regional and national organizations, and the private sector.

The event is by invitation only.

Program

Time
Program

17 MAY 2018 (THURSDAY)

8:30 am – 9:00 am

Registration and welcome coffee

9:00 am – 9:20am

Opening Remarks
· José Darío Uribe, Executive President, FLAR.

· Yasuto Watanabe, Deputy Director, AMRO

9:20 am – 12:20 p

Session 1: Stitching together the multiple layers of the Global Financial Safety Net: where does the complementarity reside?
The Global Financial Safety Net (GFSN) has been often blamed to be fragmented or “patchy”. The term was coined to encompass different resources available to fight against liquidity crunch at the height of the Global Financial Crisis and during the subsequent economic recessions. A relevant question is to which extent different layers – that is reserves, bilateral swap lines, as well as RFA and IMF resources – have been substitutable or complementary and whether the GFSN can be made more effective. If they are substitutable, countries could switch from a more expensive form of insurance to a less costly one. If they are complementary, countries could have found ways to combine the use of different tools in order to generate synergies in terms of timing of intervention, sequencing, size and conditionality design. Academics are encouraged in this session to share their understanding of the relationship between different layers of resources available for crisis-time liquidity provision and options to improve effectiveness.

Chair: Rolf Strauch, ESM (5 minutes)

Presenters:

Hiro Ito, Portland State University (30 minutes)

William W. Grimes, Boston University (30 minutes)

Coffee break (15 minutes)

Discussants:

David Marston, G20 Eminent Persons Group Secretariat (10 minutes)

Ousmène Mandeng, London School of Economics (10 minutes)

Gao Haihong, China Academy of Social Science (10 minutes)

Gong Cheng, European Stability Mechanism (10 minutes)

Thomas Marx, G20 IFA Working Group (10 minutes)

Q&A (50 minutes)

12:20 pm – 01:30 pm

Photo Session and Lunch

01:30 pm – 4:30pm

Session 2: Design of conditionality and country ownership
One complex issue with providing a macroeconomic and financial assistance program is related to the design of conditionality. Based on the IMF’s long-standing experience, conditionality has been a useful tool to induce necessary policy reforms and contain moral hazard risks. However, smooth design and implementation of conditionality depend very much on the specificities of the beneficiary countries. At the same time, how to ensure country ownership in this process is one of the key factors to translate the conditionality into domestic policy and legal framework, and helps increase the value of the safeguards on the resources provided in the conditionality. This session will allow an exchange of the knowledge between academics, the IMF and RFAs, and provide an opportunity to take stock of past experiences in designing and implementing conditionality from various institutions. With the consideration of the country ownership, the discussion could also touch upon how conditionality accommodate the social development of beneficiary countries, including well-being of people, job creation, inequality, poverty reduction and so on. In addition, the dynamic interaction between economic design of conditionality, legal constraints and political reality could be further explored.

Chair: Hoe Ee Khor, AMRO (5 minutes)

Presenters:

Graham Bird, Claremont Graduate University and University of Surrey (30 minutes)

Alexander Kentikelenis, Trinity College, Oxford University (30 minutes)

Coffee break (15 minutes)

Discussants:

Muhamad Chatib Basri, former Minister of Finance, Indonesia (10 minutes)

Roberto Junguito, former Minister of Finance, Colombia (10 minutes)

Bodo Ellmers, EURODAD (10 minutes)

Petya Koeva Brooks, IMF (10 minutes)

Nicola Giammarioli, European Stability Mechanism (10 minutes)

Q&A (50 minutes)

7:00 pm

Dinner for all participants

18 MAY 2018 (FRIDAY)

9:00 am – 12:00p

Session 3: Promote regional economic integration: the role of RFAs and beyond
With the rising populist thinking and protectionist risks in many countries, there seems to be a headwind against globalization. In this context, the question arises whether we are moving towards a more “regionalized”, multipolar pattern of trade and financial flows. What challenges will RFAs face in this context and what role can they play? Can they help to unlock regional synergies for growth and employment creation? This session aims to encourage debates on how to enhance trade and financial integration in different regions in this time of uncertainty and what role RFAs can play in this regard.

Chair: Carlos Giraldo, FLAR (5 minutes)

Presenters:

José Antonio Ocampo, Central Bank of Colombia and Columbia University (30 minutes)

Masahiro Kawai, University of Tokyo (30 minutes)

Coffee break (15 minutes)

Discussants:

Yisr Barnieh, Arab Monetary Fund (10 minutes)

Alisher Mirzoev, Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development (10 minutes)

Marie Houdart, European Commission (10 minutes)

Cyn-Young Park, Asian Development Bank (10 minutes)

Daniel Titelman Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) (10 minutes)

Q&A (50 minutes)

12:00 pm – 12:10 pm

Closing Remarks
Rolf Strauch, Chief Economist and Member of the Management Board, ESM

12:10 pm – 1:30 pm

Lunch

Speakers

José Darío Uribe

Executive President, FLAR

Yasuto Watanabe

Deputy Director, AMRO

Hiro Ito

Portland State University

William W. Grimes

Boston University

David Marston

G20 Eminent Persons Group Secretariat

Ousmène Mandeng

London School of Economics

Gao Haihong

China Academy of Social Science

Gong Cheng

European Stability Mechanism

Thomas Marx

G20 IFA Working Group

Hoe Ee Khor

AMRO

Graham Bird

Claremont Graduate University and University of Surrey

Alexander Kentikelenis

Trinity College, Oxford University

Muhamad Chatib Basri

Former Minister of Finance, Indonesia

Roberto Junguito

Former Minister of Finance, Colombia

Bodo Ellmers

EURODAD

Petya Koeva Brooks

IMF

Nicola Giammarioli

European Stability Mechanism

José Antonio Ocampo

Central Bank of Colombia and Columbia University

Masahiro Kawai

University of Tokyo

Yisr Barnieh

Arab Monetary Fund

Alisher Mirzoev

Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development

Marie Houdart

European Commission

Cyn-Young Park

Asian Development Bank

Daniel Titelman

Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)

Rolf Strauch

Chief Economist and Member of the Management Board, ESM

Photos