Ratios d’adéquation et fonction de demande des réserves de change dans les pays de l’UEMOA

This paper investigates the current situation of foreign exchange reserves in WAEMU countries. After exposing their sources, it analyzes adequacy ratios. Therefore, in order to assess whether the accumulation of these reserves is in line with fundamentals, we estimate a reserve demand function. The results revealed that, the WAEMU countries have enough foreign reserve to deal with possible external macroeconomic shocks, at least in the short term. The study also revealed that the accumulation of foreign exchange reserves is linked positively to current account indicators. Finally, the results suggested that, precautionary motives are partially important in explaining average reserve holding across WAEMU countries