Financial Repression Tracker

Rules that steer savings into government debt or hold returns below inflation, country by country.

Block · Capital controls

Comprehensive exchange controls on payments and capital transfers abroad

What it is
A general statutory ban on residents paying, transferring or investing abroad, or on non-residents repatriating local-currency funds, except with official permission, administered through licensed banks.
Why it counts
By closing the exits, it traps domestic savings inside the currency area, where they can be held at negative real rates and steered into government debt without leaking abroad.

When it was in force

  • United Kingdom: 1947 → 1979, historical
  • Malaysia: 1998 → 1999, historical
  • Iceland: 2008 → 2017, historical

3 examples

  1. United Kingdom

    1947 → 1979Historical

    The Act made any payment to a person resident outside the sterling area subject to Treasury permission, the legal basis of UK exchange control until it was suspended in October 1979.

    Exchange Control Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. 6 c. 14), Part II, s. 5 (payments in the United Kingdom)Primary source
    “make any payment to or for the credit of a person resident outside the scheduled territories; or (b) make any payment to or for the credit of a person resident in the scheduled territories”

    legislation.gov.uk (opens in a new tab)Checked: quote matched on the page by script

    United Kingdom today: index 44.4

  2. Malaysia

    1998 → 1999Historical

    Malaysia froze non-residents' ringgit proceeds from selling local securities in External Accounts unless the securities had been held for more than one year, and closed offshore ringgit markets.

    Bank Negara Malaysia, selective exchange control measures of 1 September 1998 ('Measures to Regain Monetary Independence')Primary source
    “All proceeds in ringgit received by a non-resident from the sale of any resident security must be retained in an External Account”

    bnm.gov.my (opens in a new tab)Checked: quote matched on the page by script

  3. Iceland

    2008 → 2017Historical

    After its banks collapsed, Iceland imposed comprehensive capital controls trapping offshore krónur and resident savings; most were lifted in March 2017.

    Foreign Exchange Act No. 87/1992 and Central Bank of Iceland rules under it (comprehensive capital controls from November 2008, under the IMF programme)Secondary source
    “Comprehensive capital controls were introduced in Iceland in November 2008, as part of the economic programme that the Icelandic authorities had developed with the IMF.”

    bis.org (opens in a new tab)Checked: quote matched on the page by script

Examples and their dates reviewed .

Further reading

7 more on capital controls