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Macroeconomic policy, international economics, financial markets, Latin America, regional public goods
Bio
Liliana Rojas-Suarez is the Director of the Latin America Initiative and a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development with expertise on Latin America, financial regulation, Basel II and III, and the development impact of global financial flows. She is the co-author or editor of almost a dozen books, including Growing Pains in Latin America: An Economic Growth Framework as Applied to Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico and Peru. She also co-chaired the CGD Task Forces on “Making Basel III Work for Emerging Markets and Developing Economies” and “Financial Regulations for Improving Financial Inclusion.”
She is also the chair of the Latin American Committee on Macroeconomic and Financial Issues (CLAAF) and Adjunct Professor at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, New York. From March 1998 to October 2000, she served as managing director and chief economist for Latin America at Deutsche Bank. Before joining Deutsche Bank, Rojas-Suarez was the principal advisor in the Office of Chief Economist at the Inter-American Development Bank. Between 1984 and 1994 she held various positions at the International Monetary Fund, most recently as deputy chief of the Capital Markets and Financial Studies Division of the Research Department. She has been a visiting fellow at the Institute for International Economics, a visiting advisor at the Bank for International Settlements and at the Central Bank of Spain. She has also served as a professor at Anahuac University in Mexico and advisor for PEMEX, Mexico’s National Petroleum Company. Rojas-Suarez has also testified before a Joint Committee of the U.S. Senate on the issue of dollarization in Latin America.
She has published widely in the areas of macroeconomic policy, international economics and financial markets in a large number of academic and other journals including Journal of International Economics, Journal of International Money and Finance, Journal of Development Economics, Journal of Contemporary Economic Policy, International Monetary Fund Staff Papers. She has also published or being cited in prestigious newspapers such as the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. She is also regularly interviewed by CNN en Español.
She was also awarded the prize “The Economist of the year,” granted by the Peruvian Chamber of Commerce in 2012.
Rojas-Suarez, Liliana, “Growth Challenges in Latin America: What is Unique about the Region?” (2009) paper made for the Development Challenges in the Hemisphere Task Force. Center for Hemispheric Policy at the University of Miami.
Rojas-Suarez, Liliana, “Análisis de la Coyuntura Financiera Internacional” (2008) Panel included in the publication América Latina ante la crisis financiera internacional. Centro de Información de la Secretaría General Iberoamericana.
Rojas-Suarez, Liliana, "Toward a Sustainable FTAA: Does Latin America Meet the Necessary Financial Preconditions?" (2002) Institute for International Economics. Working Paper No. 02-4.
Rojas-Suarez, Liliana, "International Standards for Strengthening Financial Systems: Can Regional Development Banks Address Developing Countries Concerns?" (February 2002). Prepared for the Conference on: Financing for Development: Regional Challenges and the Regional Development Banks at the Institute for International Economics.
Rojas-Suarez, Liliana, "Can International Capital Standards Strengthen Banks in Emerging Markets?" (2001) Institute for International Economics. Working Paper No. 01-10.
Rojas-Suarez, Liliana, "Rating Banks In Emerging Markets: What Credit Rating Agencies Should Learn From Financial Indicators" (2001) Institute for International Economics. Working Paper No. 01-06.
Michael P. Dooley & Donald J. Mathieson & Liliana Rojas-Suarez, 1997. "Capital Mobility and Exchange Market Intervention in Developing Countries" NBER Working Papers 6247, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
Rojas-Suarez, L & Weisbrod, S-R, 1997. "Financial Markets and the Behavior of Private Savings in Latin America" Working Papers 340, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
Mathieson, Donald J. and Rojas-Suarez, Liliana, "Capital Mobility and Exchange Market Intervention in Developing Countries" (November 1996). IMF Working Paper No. 96/131
McNelis, P.D. & Rojas-Suarez, L., 1996. "Exchange rate depreciation, Dollarization and Uncertainty: A Comparison of Bolivia and Peru" Working Papers 325, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
Rojas-Suarez, L. & Weisbrod, S.R., 1996. "Banking crises in Latin America: Experience and Issues" Working Papers 321, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
Rojas-Suarez, L. & Weisbrod, S.R., 1996. "Building Stability in Latin American Financial Markets" Working Papers 320, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
Rojas-Suarez, L. & Weisbrod, S.R., 1996. "Managing Banking Crises in Latin America: The Di's and Don'ts of Successful Bank Restructuring Programs" Working Papers 319, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
Rojas-Suarez, L. & Weisbrod, S., 1994. "Achieving Stability in Latin American Financial Markets in the Presence of Volatile Capital Flows" Working Papers 304, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
Rojas-Suarez, Liliana and Weisbrod, Steven R., "Financial Market Fragilities in Latin America: From Banking Crisis Resolution to Current Policy Challenges" (October 1994). IMF Working Paper No. 94/117
Mathieson, Donald J. and Rojas-Suarez, Liliana, "Liberalization of the Capital Account: Experiences and Issues" (June 1992). IMF Working Paper No. 92/46
Weisbrod, Steven R., Lee, Howard and Rojas-Suarez, Liliana, "Bank Risk and the Declining Franchise Value of the Banking Systems in the United States and Japan" (June 1992). IMF Working Paper No. 92/45
Mathieson, Donald J. and Rojas-Suárez, Liliana, "A Framework for the Analysis of Financial Reforms and the Cost of Official Safety Nets" (May 1992). IMF Working Paper No. 92/31
Rojas-Suarez, Liliana, "Currency Substitution and Inflation in Peru" (May 1992). IMF Working Paper No. 92/33
Rojas-Suárez, Liliana, "From the Debt Crisis Toward Economic Stability: An Analysis of the Consistency of Macroeconomic Policies in Mexico" (March 1992). IMF Working Paper No. 92/17
Khor, Hoe and Rojas-Suarez, Liliana, "Interest Rates in Mexico: The Role of Exchange Rate Expectations and International Creditworthiness" (January 1991). IMF Working Paper No. 91/12
Rojas-Suárez, Liliana, "Risk and Capital Flight in Developing Countries" (July 1990). IMF Working Paper No. 90/64
Mathieson, Donald J. and Rojas-Suarez, Liliana, "Financial Market Integration and Exchange Rate Policy" (January 1990). IMF Working Paper No. 90/2
Lane, Timothy and Rojas-Suarez, Liliana, "Credibility, Capital Controls, and the EMS" (January 26, 1989). IMF Working Paper No. 89/9
Rojas-Suarez, E. Liliana, “Devaluation and Monetary Policy in Developing Countries: A General Equilibrium Model for Economies Facing Financial Constraints” (March 9, 1987). IMF Working Paper No. 87/14
Rojas-Suarez, Liliana, "Financial Constraints and the Real Effects of Monetary Stabilization Policies under Alternative Exchange Rate Regimes" (October 2, 1987). IMF Working Paper No. 87/65
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Holly Shulman
hshulman@cgdev.org
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More From Liliana Rojas-Suarez


Economic recovery in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is gaining momentum, but more work is needed to ensure growth is both sustainable and inclusive. Looking ahead, activity is expected to gather further momentum—reflecting stronger demand at home and a supportive external environment. But there are still challenges ahead. Risks to the region’s outlook reflect internal factors as well as heightened external risks—notably, a shift towards more protectionist policies and a sudden tightening of global financial conditions. Additionally, longer-term growth prospects for Latin America and the Caribbean remain subdued.
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What's going to happen in the world of development in 2018? Will we finally understand how to deal equitably with refugees and migrants? Or how technological progress can work for developing countries? Or what the impact of year two of the Trump Administration will be? Today’s podcast, our final episode of 2017, raises these questions and many more as a multitude of CGD scholars share their insights and hopes for the year ahead.
This paper analyzes the relevance, advantages and challenges that the Chilean financial system would face if the new international standard were implemented.
This paper identifies and discusses the conditions needed for achieving strong and stable capital markets in emerging market economies, which at present remain illiquid and underdeveloped.
As recently as 2011, only 42 percent of adult Kenyans had a financial account of any kind; by 2014, according to the Global Findex, database that number had risen to 75 percent. In sub-Saharan Africa, the share of adults with financial accounts rose by nearly half over the same period. Many other developing countries have also recorded gains in access to basic financial services. Much of this progress is being facilitated by the digital revolution of recent decades, which has led to the emergence of new financial services and new delivery channels.
A rise in protectionism and increased external uncertainty may compound already existing domestic weaknesses. Latin America cannot run the risk of being unprepared for the significant potential direct and indirect effects of such a menace to its exports, capital inflows and growth.
As recently as 2011, only 42 percent of adult Kenyans had a financial account of any kind; by 2014, according to the Global Findex database, that number had risen to 75 percent, including 63 percent of the poorest two-fifths. In Sub-Saharan Africa as a whole, the share of adults with financial accounts, either a traditional bank account or a mobile account, rose by nearly half over the same period. Many countries in other developing regions have also recorded, if less dramatic, gains in access to the basic financial services that most people in richer countries take for granted. Much of this progress is being facilitated by the digital revolution of recent decades, which has led to the emergence of new financial services and new delivery channels.
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This paper constructs an index of regulatory quality for improving financial inclusion for the purpose of assessing and comparing the quality of rules and regulations in a sample of eight Latin American countries.
This paper addresses four misconceptions (or ‘myths’) that have likely played a role in the limited utilization of the IMF’s two precautionary credit lines, the Flexible Credit Line (FCL) and the Precautionary and Liquidity Line (PLL). These myths are 1) too stringent qualification criteria that limit country eligibility; 2) insufficient IMF resources; 3) high costs of precautionary borrowing; and 4) the economic stigma associated with IMF assistance. We show, in fact, that the pool of eligible member states is likely to be seven to eight times larger than the number of current users; that with the 2016 quota reform IMF resources are more than adequate to support a larger precautionary portfolio; that the two IMF credit lines are among the least costly and most advantageous instruments for liquidity support countries have; and that there is no evidence of negative market developments for countries now participating in the precautionary lines.
In spite of recent progress in the usage of alternative financial services by adult populations, Latin America’s financial inclusion gaps have not reduced, relatively to comparable countries, and, in some cases, have even increased during the period 2011-2014. Institutional weaknesses play the most salient role through direct and indirect effects. Lack of enforcement of the rule of law directly reduces depositors’ incentives to entrust their funds to formal financial institutions. Indirectly, low institutional quality reinforces the adverse effects of insufficient bank competition on financial inclusion.
This paper investigates the shifts in Latin American banks’ funding patterns in the post-global financial crisis period. To this end, we introduce a new measure of exposure of local banking systems to international debt markets that we term: International Debt Issuances by Locally Supervised Institutions. In contrast to well-known BIS measures, our new metric includes all entities that fall under the supervisory purview of the local authority.
This paper analyzes Latin America’s Financial Inclusion Gap, the difference between the average financial inclusion for Latin America and the corresponding average for a set of comparator countries.
A number of Andean countries stand out in their successful use of macroprudential financial regulations. This paper focuses on three: countercyclical capital requirements, countercyclical loan-loss provisioning requirements, and liquidity requirements.
This paper discusses the potential usefulness of implementing macroprudential approach in Central America.
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