This paper analyses the cyclical behaviour of bank credit, loan losses and provisions for loan losses in Spain. These three variables are strongly cyclical in Spain -as in many other countries- and this poses some problems to bank supervisors and regulators. In a context of strong competitive...

This paper explores the role of international reserves as a stabilizer of international capital flows during periods of global financial stress. In contrast with previous contributions, aimed at explaining net capital flows, we focus on the behavior of gross capital flows. We analyze an...

We test the Barro-Gordon model extended to allow for persistence in unemployment. First, we build an index of central bank independence and measures of persistence, and then we compare them with inflation performance in OECD countries. Our results show, as theory predicts, a robust negative...

A simple method to estimate multilateral equilibrium real exchange rates in a cointegration framework is used to compute the equilibrium real exchange rate for the peseta. The stock of foreign assets and the evolution of sectoral prices have been considered to be the fundamentals for the real...

A remarkable fact of the mushrooming remittances market is the absence of commercial banks as relevant players. Furthermore, remittances have been identified as a potential catalyst for the financial deepening of receiving countries through higher access to banking services by migrants'...

We use a simple analytical framework to study how idiosyncratic production shocks are smoothed through risksharing across Spanish provinces. By analyzing how production in the average province is successively smoothed until it is used as consumption, we find that half of the shocks have been...

In this paper we consider that the relationship between nominal exchange rate and prices depends on the nature of the shocks impacting the economy. In order to identify the sources of nominal exchange rate and relative price fluctuations in Spain we impose long-run restrictions on the dynamics...

The fallout from the 2008 financial crisis has been particularly acute in the euro area Member States of the south-western rim and in the new EU Member States, due to their previously accumulated macroeconomic and financial imbalances. The perception that the euro environment provided a solid...

‘The Great Recession’ was preceded by a prolonged period of high growth accompanied by low and stable inflation, the so called ‘Great Moderation’. During that period, potential growth estimates were trending upwards and output gaps remained small. However, other imbalances were...