Economic downturns which have their roots in preceding credit excesses and debt overhang have tended historically to be long lasting, whether the financial sector remained healthy or not. There are no good reasons to believe the current global crisis will be any different. Moreover, it is argued...

The negative interest rate policy (NIRP) has been in place in the euro area since June 2014. While the NIRP can provide additional monetary accommodation in the situation where the neutral rate of interest is most likely negative, there are also unintended consequences for banks’ profitability...

This paper evaluates the impact of new releases of financial, real activity and survey data on the nowcasting of euro area GDP growth. We show that financial data are only essential for improving nowcasting in the first two months of a nowcast quarter. This contrasts with survey and real data,...

Credit Guarantee Schemes (CGSs) are a widely used policy tool to ease access to finance by SMEs, which, in some countries, ramped up in the aftermath of the 2008-09 financial crisis. The present study aims to improve understanding about the role, impact and sustainability of CGSs, by...

In the wake of the 2008-09 financial crisis, a number of European OECD countries introduced credit mediation schemes, as a new, often temporary mechanism to help ease access to finance by SMEs. This report investigates the nature of credit mediation and credit review schemes implemented in...

In the wake of the Great Recession, a massive monetary policy stimulus was provided in the main OECD economies. It helped to stabilise financial markets and avoid deflation. Nonetheless, GDP growth has been sluggish and in some countries lower than expected given the measures taken, and...