Let me start by expressing my appreciation to the organizers for the opportunity to participate in this 2018 edition of the IFF Annual Conference. Following a period of strong inflows in 2017 and early 2018, nonresident portfolio capital flows to emerging market economies (EMEs) started to reverse in late-April this year, with bond and equity fund withdrawals accumulating to date about US$28 billion. This has responded to a spike in risk aversion, reflected in a series of waves of uncertainty over the year in response to a combination of developments. The latter include upward-trending interest rates in the US, a surge in trade-related tensions, geopolitical developments, a deceleration of the Chinese economy, the decline in key stock markets, heightened political and policy uncertainty in a number of EMEs, as well as sharp declines in oil prices to levels not seen in about a year, among others. As a result, financial conditions in these economies have shown a significant tightening which, according to some estimates, is comparable to that experienced during the taper tantrum episode of 2013.