Stabilisation Policy with a Fixed Exchange Rate

Economic Review, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1, June 2012: Stabilisation Policy with a Fixed Exchange Rate: Pages 57-66. This paper describes how fiscal policy is used in Barbados to manage the demand for foreign exchange and ensure that the Central Bank is always stocked with adequate foreign exchange reserves to supply the needs of the interbank market. This enables the Central Bank to maintain an unchanged exchange rate through intervention on the interbank market. Sustaining the peg in this way lends credibility to Government economic policy and provides strong incentives to save and invest in the local economy.