The surge of quantitative easing around the world should be a reason to worry for many emerging economies. In a recent wave of announcements, Japan, under new prime minister Shinzo Abe, has followed the lead of the US and the eurozone, introducing greater liquidity into the markets.
Developed countries are acting to support their economies, but it is emerging markets that have absorbed the bulk of the severe currency appreciation that follows every round of QE – and in particular those countries committed to flexible exchange rate regimes and open markets. This is particularly true in a world where China continues to manage its exchange rate. After all, currency wars are zero sum games.
This is the case for the most successful Latin American economies – Colombia, Mexico, Peru and my own, Chile – which experienced appreciations of close to 10 per cent against the US dollar in 2012. In the same fashion, in developed open economies such as Australia and New Zealand, currency appreciation against the greenback has reached almost 15 per cent since 2010.