Contrary to what conventional economic analysis afirms, the main cause of the financial crises in emerging countries during the 1990s, beginning with Mexico (1994) and ending with the crisis in Argentina (2001) was not primarily fiscal, but the decision by governments to foster growth with foreign savings, i.e., with current account deficits. Since the exchange rate has other determinants besides domestic absorption, the assumption of twin deficits often does not hold. These were balance of payment crises triggered by an overvalued local currency and the high increases in the foreign debt and/or the fast growth of the current account deficit. This led, foreign creditors to suddenly become persuaded that the country faced both liquidity and solvency problems, and to stop rolling over the debt. An econometric test substantiates these claims.
financial crisis; balance of payment crises; current account deficits; exchange rate
