Optimal monetary policy in a currency union with interest rate spreads

We introduce “financial imperfections” – asymmetric net wealth positions, incomplete risk-sharing, and interest rate spreads across member countries – in a prototypical two-country currency union model and study implications for monetary policy transmission mechanism and optimal policy. In addition to, and independent from, the standard transmission mechanism associated with nominal rigidities, financial imperfections introduce a wealth redistribution role for monetary policy. Moreover, the two mechanisms reinforce each other and amplify the effects of monetary policy. On the normative side, financial imperfections, via interactions with nominal rigidities, generate two novel policy trade-offs. First, the central bank needs to pay attention to distributional efficiency in addition to macroeconomic (and price level) stability, which implies that a strict inflation targeting policy of setting union-wide inflation to zero is never optimal. Second, the interactions lead to a trade-off in stabilizing relative consumption versus the relative price gap (the deviation of relative prices from their efficient level) across countries, which implies that the central bank allows for less flexibility in relative prices. Finally, we consider how the central bank should respond to a financial shock that causes an increase in the interest rate spread. Under optimal policy, the central bank strongly decreases the deposit rate, which reduces aggregate and distributional inefficiencies by mitigating the drop in output and inflation and the rise in relative consumption and prices. Such a policy response can be well approximated by a spread-adjusted Taylor rule as it helps the real interest rate track the efficient rate of interest.     

The Importance of Global Shocks for National Policymakers – Rising Challenges for Sustainable Monetary Policies

This paper analyses the importance of global shocks for the global economic developments and national policymakers from a novel perspective. On the one hand, we examine whether global factors convey additional information about monetary conditions not summarised by national aggregates. More specifically, we keep an eye on the question whether domestic monetary policies have become less effective in the wake of financial globalisation. We adopt a FAVAR framework to derive structural shocks on a worldwide level and their impact on other global and also national variables. We estimate our macromodel using quarterly data from Q1 1984 to Q4 2012 for the G7 countries plus the euro area. According to our results, global liquidity shocks significantly influence the global economy at the commodity price level. However, some other common shocks originating from house prices and GDP play a role at the global level as well.     

Betting the house

Is there a link between loose monetary conditions, credit growth, house price booms, and financial instability? This paper analyzes the role of interest rates and credit in driving house price booms and busts with data spanning 140 years of modern economic history in the advanced economies. We exploit the implications of the macroeconomic policy trilemma to identify exogenous variation in monetary conditions: countries with fixed exchange regimes often see fluctuations in short-term interest rates unrelated to home economic conditions. We use novel instrumental variable local projection methods to demonstrate that loose monetary conditions lead to booms in real estate lending and house prices' bubbles; these, in turn, materially heighten the risk of financial crises. Both effects have become stronger in the postwar era.     

Financial Stability and the Hemianopsia of Monetary Policy

Financial stability concerns cannot be separated from macroeconomic objectives of monetary policy. Stimulative monetary policy works by creating financial conditions that could lead to instability in markets that could, in turn, engender deflationary pressures. Although the Federal Reserve Act does not explicitly mention financial stability as an FOMC objective, it is fundamentally bound together with the achievement of the explicit goals of maximum employment and price stability.     

Central Banking After the Crisis: No Return to Past Certainties

Before the 2008 crisis, macroeconomic theory and central bank practice regarded low and stable inflation to be a policy objective that was sufficient to ensure macroeconomic and financial stability. There was little concern with the details of the financial system or balance sheet aggregates. This article makes the case that these details are important and that monetary and macroprudential policy must control both the quantity and allocation of credit. This entails a revision of conventional monetary theory as well as policy, particularly to explain the paradox of the precrisis situation of so much credit and so little inflation. The particular role of real estate investment is described as a source of financial instability that can only be addressed by nuanced monetary and macroprudential policy.     

Bank lending channel in a dual banking system: Why are Islamic banks so responsive?

We examine the interest rate sensitivity of both deposits and credits at Islamic and conventional banks in Turkey. We find that the bank lending channel is especially operative for Islamic banks. Impulse responses for conventional and Islamic banks reveal that Islamic bank depositors’ sensitivity to policy rate changes is substantially larger than that of conventional bank depositors. Next to heavily dependence on deposit funding, we consider that inertia in Islamic bank deposit rates impedes these banks to keep those depositors who consider the opportunity cost of monetary policy rates is unbearable. On the lending side, we obtain similar results, implying that tight monetary policy leads to a larger contraction in Islamic bank credits. This finding is a reflection of the favourable attitude of Islamic banks towards small and medium‐sized enterprise (SME) financing. When similar relationships are analysed for currency and inflation shocks, we again find larger responses for Islamic banks showing the cyclical nature of SME credits.     

China’s Growing Influence in Southeast Asia – Monetary Policy and Equity Markets

This study analyses the potential transmission of China’s monetary policy shocks to equity markets in Southeast Asia. Impulse response functions indicate that the impact of a monetary expansion in China is significant and positive for four of the five Southeast Asian equity markets. One explanation for this result is that monetary policy shocks in China lead to an increase in demand for goods and services in both China and abroad, which then shows up in the foreign equity market. The results in this paper provide evidence of China’s influence in Southeast Asia and its financial markets. The transmission effect is small and very short lived, but can be expected to increase if the current trends of a deepening economic integration between China and Southeast Asia and a maturing Chinese central bank continue.     

中国货币政策对银行风险承担行为的影响研究——基于异质性视角

国际金融危机的爆发引发了理论界对货币政策是否影响银行体系稳定更为广泛的关注。文章基于异质性视角构建动态面板数据模型对货币政策与银行风险承担行为之间的关系进行估计,研究结果表明：2003-2011年,货币政策变量对银行风险偏好的影响具有时滞性,贷款利率提高有助于抑制银行风险,货币供应量增加会刺激银行更加冒险;不同银行对货币政策冲击会做出异质反应,随着资本充足率的提高,货币政策对银行风险承担行为的影响效果减弱。因此,加强中国人民银行在宏观审慎监管中的主导作用、建立逆周期的货币政策和资本监管协调机制是后金融危机时代我国监管当局的重要议题。     

信用扩张的合理界限与房价波动研究

房地产业是资金密集型产业,它的供给与需求很大程度上由信用扩张程度来决定。而信用扩张的合理边界作为货币政策的目标,决定了房地产的繁荣程度与价格水平的高低。因此,货币政策对房价具有重要的影响。但是,由于所有的金融交易都存在着内在与外在的不稳定,这就需要一系列的金融制度安排来保证信用扩张边界的合理性。同样,由于金融制度不完全性、效应的滞后性及利益的渗透性,金融交易制度安排的缺陷可能成为房地产价格波动的制度性根源。由此,本文从货币政策的制度因素来讨论与研究信用扩张过度与房价的波动关系,并希望从中寻求对房价波动更为一般性的解释。     

Global excess liquidity and asset prices in emerging countries: A PVAR approach

The overly accommodating monetary policy is often accused of creating surplus liquidity and bubbles on the asset markets. In particular, it could have contributed to strong capital inflows in emerging countries, which may have had a significant impact on financial stability in these countries, affecting domestic financing conditions and creating a risk of upward pressures on asset prices. We focus in this paper on the impact of global excess liquidity on goods and asset prices for a set of emerging market countries by estimating a panel VAR model. We define first global liquidity and highlight situations of excess liquidity. We then find that excess liquidity at global level has spillover effects on output and price levels in emerging countries. The impact on real estate, commodity and share prices in emerging countries is less clear.     

地方政府举债的货币扩张效应及其政策协同

各国政府均会面临日益频繁出现的社会供需总量有悖于货币流通和金融稳定的诸多问题,为此财政与金融当局综合运用各种政策工具力求实现经济的稳定和协调发展。作为国家宏观调控的重要工具之一,地方政府举债如何避免政策冲突并最大化政策组合效力,是当前亟待深入研究的重要课题。本文通过构建包含金融摩擦、多期债券和举债规则等要素在内的NK-DSGE模型,深入剖析地方政府举债的货币效应和传导机制,并探讨其与货币政策协同配合的最佳模式。研究发现:(1)1%的地方政府举债冲击(债券久期=5年)会推动货币乘数上升0.39%,产生货币扩张效应,且债券久期越长,该扩张效应越大;(2)面对实体冲击和金融冲击,货币政策对地方政府举债采取适度从紧的反向协同配合,能有效抑制其货币扩张效应,更好地实现经济稳定和复苏;(3)对于久期较长的债券,提高地方政府举债规则的风险反应敏感度有利于增进福利。     

金融结构演变、货币政策与银行风险承担异质性

基于2002-2017年165家银行的面板数据,本文采用可行广义最小二乘(FGLS)方法实证检验金融结构演变视角下货币政策对银行风险承担渠道的影响。研究发现:金融结构的变化对银行风险承担具有显著影响,随着直接融资占比的上升,银行资产端风险承担显著减少,但负债端风险承担显著增加;控制住金融结构的作用之后,货币政策对银行资产端风险承担和负债端风险承担也具有显著的异质性影响,具体来说,价格型货币政策的紧缩使得银行资产端风险承担显著减少而导致银行负债端风险承担显著增加,数量型货币政策的紧缩则使得银行资产端风险承担和负债端风险承担同时减少;此外,货币政策与金融结构对银行风险承担具有显著的交互影响,随着直接融资占比的上升,价格型货币政策工具对银行资产端风险承担的影响减弱,对银行负债端风险承担的影响没有表现出显著变化,数量型货币政策工具对银行资产端风险承担和负债端风险承担的影响都受到削弱。研究结论的政策含义对货币当局、监管部门以及商业银行都具有重要意义。     

在信用货币制度下中央银行超然制度的和谐构建

中央银行超然性是信用货币制度的重要特性,但中央银行在货币发行、金融政策制定、金融监管等方面存在的制度缺陷,严重影响了中央银行应具有的超然性、独立性与权威性。应加强对中央银行产权结构、外部组织结构、货币政策调节范围以及货币政策操作工具的创新,构建信用货币制度下的中央银行超然制度。     

The impact of oil price movements on bank non-performing loans: Global evidence from oil-exporting countries

It is generally believed that economic and financial performance in oil-rich countries are interlinked to oil price movements. On this assumption, we consider whether oil prices shocks have any impact on bank non-performing loans (NPLs), and if so, whether the effect is homogenous across banks. This paper addresses these questions by applying a dynamic GMM model on data from 2310 commercial banks in 30 oil-exporting countries over the period 2000–2014. Three main results emerge. First, changes in oil prices do have a significant impact on bank NPLs: A rise (fall) in oil prices is associated with a decrease (increase) in NPLs. Second, oil prices shocks have asymmetric effects on bank problem loans, with negative oil price movements generally have a greater impact than positive oil price movements. Third, the unfavourable impact of adverse oil prices shocks on the quality of bank loans tends to be more pronounced in large banks. Overall, these robust results favour the adaptation of appropriate macroprudential policies and diversification of the economy, in order to mitigate the adverse impact of oil prices shocks.     

风险承担渠道：货币政策信贷传导渠道新探

近年来,＂风险承担渠道＂作为货币政策传导的一条新渠道,逐渐引起学界和业界的广泛关注。2008年爆发了全球性金融危机,反思其成因,＂过低的利率＂被一些学者认为是重要的诱因之一。长时期过于宽松的货币政策将引起投资者风险偏好的上升,导致金融不平衡的累积。风险承担渠道的研究表明,追求物价稳定的宽松货币政策对金融稳定产生了负面的影响。物价稳定与金融稳定双重目标的有效实现,需要货币政策与宏观审慎政策的协调配合。     

The Aggregate Behavior of Banks: A Proposal for Prudential Supervision

This study seeks to investigate a macroeconomic approach that could help bank regulators and supervisors perform their task of ensuring financial stability. To achieve this, an attempt is made to explain the behavior of banks by analyzing aggregate time series of credit lending and deposit-taking, which are the variables involved in financial intermediation. This article's main contribution is to present evidence of banks’ behavior in their role as financial intermediaries, in terms of the performance of the variables that represent their credit-granting or deposit-taking decisions. For this purpose the study used a vector autoregressive model to construct impulse response functions and the Granger test. The results demonstrate the existence of bilateral causality between credit lending and deposit--taking, suggesting that banks actively manage the financial intermediation process. In addition, the results show that shocks to deposits destabilize the credit lending process, and credit supply shocks, in turn, destabilize deposit-taking. The latter result is important for understanding how financial instability can arise, and is thus relevant for the bank regulator.     

我国调控房地产价格的货币政策分析

美国由于对资产价格做出的货币政策滞后给经济带来了很大负面影响,我国也应该认识到积极的财政政策和货币政策会带来资产价格泡沫隐患,尤其是房地产泡沫问题应该受到关注。现阶段货币政策调控房地产市场面临着放松调控将导致房地产泡沫卷土重来,过度调控会阻碍经济的持续发展,微观主体预期对货币政策有效性构成挑战,基层中央银行落实政策难到住等问题。完善我国货币政策调控体系就要增强货币政策的连续性、一致性和透明度,防止心理预期的变化引起房地产价格的震荡,还要加强一般性货币政策与选择性货币政策之间的配合以及货币政策与其他调控政策的配合。     

逆周期资本账户管制对宏观经济稳定与社会福利改善的作用

资本管制能否有效抵御外部冲击实现宏观经济稳定存在争论,本文通过构造开放经济的DSGE模型研究投资限制和逆周期金融交易税等资本管制工具对于实现宏观经济稳定和改善社会福利的作用。通过比较不同政策安排下主要宏观经济变量的波动性和脉冲响应函数可以发现,采用逆周期金融交易税作为资本管制工具在抵御外部冲击、维持宏观经济稳定方面具有比较优势。设置投资限制的资本管制促进了货币政策的独立性,可以使货币政策专注管理国内的经济增长和通货膨胀问题。通过不同政策安排下的福利分析可知,增加投资国外资产的限制对社会福利的增进起到负面作用,增加逆周期金融交易税的资本管制却可以减轻由投资限制导致的资源配置扭曲,从而放松投资国外资产的限制从根本上提高社会福利。所以,在资本管制工具的选择上,采取逆周期金融交易税可能比采用投资限制更优。随着资本账户开放的基本条件不断成熟,用金融交易税取代投资限制更符合浮动汇率制和自由兑换的资本账户的需求。     

Effects of monetary policy news on financial assets: Evidence from Brazil on a bivariate VAR-GARCH model (2006–17)

The impact of news releases related to the inflation targeting regime on the financial market is analyzed by estimating a bivariate VAR GARCH-BEKK-in-mean model. We use daily data, from January 2006 to May 2017, of stock prices index (IBOVESPA), exchange rate (BRL/USD) and interbank deposit rate (DI360). We developed a positive and negative news index to measure the impact of news releases based on Caporale et al. (2016) and Caporale et al. (2018). Although the literature on the subject is vast, this paper fills relevant gaps in three ways. First, we investigate the bidirectional relationship between monetary policy related news releases and the behavior of asset prices before and after the 2008 crisis in Brazil. Second, we consider the relationship between the second moments of the variables of interest, using the conditional volatility as a proxy for uncertainty. Third, we provide a time series approach to measure the effect of macroeconomic related news releases on financial asset returns. The results indicate there are mean spread effects from news for the exchange rate and the Brazilian stock index: (i) the GARCH-in-mean parameter is statistically significant for positive and the difference of news for the DI360; (ii) monetary policy and external shocks are statiscally significant as expected with exception of the external shocks for the Brazilian stock index; and (iii) there are volatility spillovers and changes of this volatility after the crisis for stock index and DI360.     

Exchange rate versus inflation targeting: a theory of output fluctuations in traded and non-traded sectors

This paper develops a basic model for output fluctuations in traded and non-traded sectors under two alternative monetary policy regimes; exchange rate targeting (or monetary union) and inflation targeting. The conventional wisdom from one-sector models says that inflation targeting gives better output stabilization than exchange rate targeting when demand shocks occur, but the opposite when supply shocks occur. In a model with a traded and a non-traded sector, we show that the conventional wisdom holds for the non-traded sector. However, for the traded sector, we show that inflation targeting destabilizes output compared with exchange rate targeting when both supply and demand shocks occur. The only shocks where inflation targeting provides the better output stability for the traded sector are shocks to world market prices. The two-sector structure introduces new mechanisms that may turn around earlier results for aggregate production. For instance, a demand shock may induce higher aggregate output fluctuations with inflation targeting than with exchange rate targeting. Furthermore, a positive demand shock may prove to be contractionary under inflation targeting.