Abstract
International liquidity may be defined as that stock of assets which is available to a country’s monetary authorities to cover payments imbalances (when the exchange rate is fixed) or to influence the exchange value of the currency (when the exchange rate is flexible). A distinction may be drawn between unconditional liquidity, which is generally owned by the country concerned and may be used at its sole discretion, and conditional liquidity, which comprises access to borrowing facilities and is generally available only on conditions set by the lenders. Because of the obvious practical difficulties in measuring conditional liquidity, the operational measure of international liquidity that is generally used in discussion of the subject is that of gross international reserves.
This chapter was originally published in The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics, 1st edition, 1987. Edited by John Eatwell, Murray Milgate and Peter Newman
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Bibliography
Crockett, A.D. 1978. Control over international reserves. Washington, DC: IMF Staff Papers, March.
Heller, H.R., and M.S. Khan. 1978. The demand for international reserves under fixed and floating exchange rates. Washington, DC: IMF Staff Papers, December.
International Monetary Fund. 1970. International reserves: Needs and availability. Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
Mundell, R.A., and J.J. Polak (eds.). 1977. The new international monetary system. New York: Columbia University Press.
Von Furstenberg, G.M. (ed.). 1983. International money and credit: The policy roles. Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
Willett, T.D. 1980. International liquidity issues. Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute.
Williamson, J. 1973. International liquidity: A survey. Economic Journal 83(September): 685–746.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1987 The Author(s)
About this entry
Cite this entry
Crockett, A. (1987). International Liquidity. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_990-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_990-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-95121-5
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences