This paper analyses the informational content of financial prices in Spain, mainly from the viewpoint of a central bank. In particular, we examine the informational content of domestic yields and yield spreads, foreign-domestic spreads, credit quality spreads, stock prices and exchange rates on...

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 offers a comprehensive comparison of the structure of banking and financial markets in the euro area. Based on this, several hypotheses about the role of banks in monetary policy transmission are developed. Many of the predictions that have been proposed for the U.S. are deemed...

This paper uses panel data on banks, for the period 1991-98, to test the existence of a bank-lending channel in the Spanish economy. In order to distinguish between loan demand and supply movements, several exercises are performed. First, we analyse the differential responses, to monetary policy...

This paper investigates the presence of liquidity premia in the relative pricing of assets traded on the Spanish government securities market. First, a classification of bonds into four different categories based on their degree of liquidity is proposed. Second, liquidity premia are estimated...