The notes in this compilation review the main features (size, structure, etc.) of sovereign bond markets in euro area Member States and discuss, in the relation to expanded asset purchase programme (EAPP) of the ECB, the financial risks the Eurosystem is potentially taking on its balance sheet...

The notes in this compilation review the main features (size, structure, etc.) of sovereign bond markets in euro area Member States and discuss, in the relation to expanded asset purchase programme (EAPP) of the ECB, the financial risks the Eurosystem is potentially taking on its balance sheet...

In the current monetary policy framework, the ECB (as most central banks) set a target for the annual inflation rate as a nominal anchor to maintain price stability. The ECB inflation rate is defined as the year-on-year percentage change of the harmonised index of consumer prices. Nominal GDP...

We project the path of the public debt and primary surpluses for a number of countries in the euro area under a fiscal rule based on a set of estimated fiscal policy reaction functions. Our fiscal rule represents a fiscal analogue to a well-known monetary policy rule, and it is calibrated using...

We formulate and estimate a simple fiscal policy reaction function for the euro area and individual euro area countries. Our reaction function allows for primary surpluses to feature three components: an anti-cyclical response of primary surpluses to the output gap, a response to the debt-GDP...

We study the evolution of the response of fiscal policy to monetary policy shocks in the EMU in the light of two important events: the signing of the Maastricht treaty in 1992 and the introduction of the EMU in 1999. Based on impulse responses from a panel VAR, we find that fiscal and monetary...

Recent calculations have suggested that the German federal government has saved roughly EUR 90-100 billion, cumulatively, due to low bond yields since the onset of the Euro crisis. In order to determine the contribution of the "flight to quality" to this sum, we define the flight to quality as a...