We analyze how public finances, through sovereign interest rates, impact corporate borrowing costs in the Euro Area. Theoretically, an increase in sovereign rates can have an impact on banks interest rates through three main channels: i) an increase in the risk free rate (price channel) ii) a...

We regress long-term private sector interest rates on a money market rate, a term premium and credit risk. As a contribution to the current debate about European safe assets, our interest is in quantifying domestic spillover effects from euro area sovereign bond spreads. Panel estimates show...