Monetary policy independence and floating exchange rates: what does the Brazilian evidence tell us?

ABSTRACT Some authors have advocated that shifting from fixed exchange rates to floating regimes has not delivered better economic outcomes to developing countries. As the argument goes, pervasive fear of floating in these economies has prevented drops in real interest rates and, more importantly, has been a hindrance in the way towards more monetary policy autonomy. This paper presents evidence suggesting this may not be the case for Brazil. More precisely, there are signs that fear of floating was less acute here (presumably due to low exchange rate pass-through) than elsewhere, and also that policymakers are now targeting monetary policy principally to domestic objectives.