Over time, the payments for these loans must be adjusted upward to catch up with fully indexed interest rates and/or paydowns (amortization) of the balance owed, often significantly, which sometimes results in what some call “payment shock.” Sometimes borrowers can refinance out of these loans, but that may cost them a serious prepayment penalty and reduce the amount of equity that they have built up in their home.
(i)  Does the IMF have an unbiased understanding of “currency wars”? (ii)  Is the IMF being even handed in its evaluation of countries’ forex intervention and capital control policies? (iii)  Is the IMF’s job done just by bringing out the spillover reports? Should it not go beyond that to more assertively sensitize AEs to the spillover impact of their policies?