Article
Comparative Economic Studies (2002) 44, 3–29; doi:10.1057/ces.2002.15
The IMF and the Ruble Area, 1991–93
The authors would like to thank Oleh Havrylyshyn, Ernesto Hernández-Catá, and Tom Wolf for their helpful input and encouragement throughout the preparation of the paper. Useful comments were also received from Charles Adams, Hrant Bagratian, Gerard Bélanger, Jack Boorman, Eduard Brau, Stanley Fischer, Peter Hole, Ishan Kapur, Adalbert Knöbl, and Michael Mussa. The authors alone are responsible for the judgements in the paper and for any errors.
A longer version of this paper was published as an IMF Working Paper (WP/01/101) in August 2001 and can be accessed from the IMF website (www.imf.org). In addition to the text here, it included: previously unpublished policy notes and letters to central bank governors prepared by the IMF staff on the introduction of national currencies; guidelines for the conduct of monetary policy in the ruble area; and policy issues under a new ruble area.
John Odling-Smee1 and Gonzalo Pastor2
- 1International Monetary Fund
- 2International Monetary Fund
Abstract
This paper summarizes the IMF advice on the ruble area as it was presented to the national authorities in Russia, the Baltic countries, and other states of the former Soviet Union in 1991-93. In the course of doing so, the paper corrects some misperceptions that have arisen about the IMF's role. The evidence presented in the paper suggests that (i) the balance of arguments on the ruble area (and national currencies) changed over time, and hence so did the IMF's advice, and (ii) from the beginning, the IMF staff concentrated on pointing out the pros and cons of alternative monetary arrangements, without strongly advocating a particular one, emphasizing that it was the authorities' decision to stay in or leave the ruble area. Fund advice on how to introduce national currencies was made readily available to the various national authorities as early as January 1992.
Keywords:
Monetary policy, ruble area, national currencies
JEL Classifications:
E52; F33; F42; P24
