Annual Report on Exchange Arrangements and Exchange Restrictions 1956

The AREAER provides a description of the foreign exchange arrangements, exchange and trade systems, and capital controls of all IMF Member countries.

The AREAER provides a comprehensive description of restrictions on international trade and payments, capital controls, and measures implemented in the financial sector, including prudential measures that may affect capital flows for all IMF members. It also provides information on the classification of their exchange rate arrangements, operation of foreign exchange markets, restrictions on current international payments and transfers and multiple currency practices subject to the IMF’s jurisdiction in accordance with Article VIII. Descriptions of individual member countries are available at AREAER Online.

This paper outlines the changes that took place in restrictive systems were largely a reflection of shifts in the balance of payments positions and outlook of member countries. The country surveys show that these changes were numerous. Several countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States, took steps to moderate capital outflows. The range of restrictive devices applied by some countries appears to have widened in recent years. The use of advance import deposit requirements has spread, and more countries are applying surcharges to imports when in balance of payments difficulties. In contrast, a number of member countries whose restrictive systems have been progressively liberalized in recent years have relied on internal measures to meet temporary balance of payments difficulties rather than resort to restrictions. By making use of the IMF’s resources several member countries have been able to maintain or extend their liberalization policies.

This paper highlights the period under review was characterized by an unusually rapid increase in world trade and stresses on the international payments system. After a downturn in the rate of expansion of world trade in 1967, there was a sharp rise in the rate of growth in 1968. There was less emphasis on restrictions on current transactions, the main reliance being placed on capital controls in the efforts of the major trading countries to restore their balance of payments position. The area in which certain countries felt obliged to exercise control over current payments was the provision of exchange for travel expenditure, partly to prevent evasion of the capital controls. Several countries made important changes in their exchange and trade systems during the year tending toward liberalization of their restrictions. However, more restrictive import policies were adopted in other countries, which generally have a more important share in world trade.

Annual Report on Exchange Arrangements and Exchange Restrictions 2020

Published since 1950, this authoritative annual reference is based on a unique IMF database that tracks exchange and trade arrangements for 187 IMF member countries, along with Hong Kong SAR, Aruba, and Curaçao and Sint Maarten. The Annual Report on Exchange Arrangements and Exchange Restrictions (AREAER) draws together information available to the IMF from a number of sources, including during official IMF staff visits to member countries. There is a separate chapter for each of the 189 countries included, and these are presented in a clear, easy-to-read tabular format. A summary table allows for simple cross-country comparisons of key features of their exchange and trade regimes. The report's introduction summarizes recent global trends and developments. It discusses such topical issues as exchange rate arrangements, current or capital transactions, or prudential regulations. The individual country chapters outline exchange measures in place, the structure and setting of exchange rates, arrangements for payments and receipts, procedures for resident and nonresident accounts, mechanisms for import and export payments and receipts, controls on capital transactions, and provisions specific to the financial sector. The report now provides more detailed information on the operations of foreign exchange markets and exchange rate mechanisms and better describes the regulatory framework for current and capital account transactions.