This Selected Issues paper seeks to determine the macroeconomic effects of credit growth in Latvia. To do so, the paper relies on two approaches. First, a vector autoregressive system consisting of domestic credit, real activity, inflation, and the current account is used to determine responses...

In this paper, I explain theoretically the coordination and conflict scheme of fiscal and monetary policy workings, and then empirically assess the effect of both inflation-targeting and non-inflation-only targeting policies on inflation and unemployment rates. I employ a...

Using the different response timings of credit demand and supply, we isolate supply shifts after monetary policy shocks. We show that the bank lending channel exists in Brazil: after an increase (decrease) in the basic interest rate (Selic), banks reduce (increase) the quantity of new loans and...

We use two frameworks to analyze the recent Brazilian public debt management. The first one encompasses the Brazilian optimal public debt management analysis through the examination of the correlations among the main variables to which the public debt is indexed. The second seeks to address the...

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to improve policy, and also to simplify theory and policy. Design/methodology/approach – Theory is used in a simple and yet powerful way. Stylized facts are used. This paper reconsiders the prevailing macroeconomic policy regime, and proposes an...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of monetary policy on economic activity using a plethora of hitherto unemployed financial dynamics in inflation-chaotic African countries for the period of 1987-2010.Although in developed economies, changes in monetary policy affect...

Does the bank lending channel of monetary transmission work in Turkey? Using the May- June 2006 financial turbulence as an exogenous shock that prompted a significant tightening of monetary policy, this paper examines the loan supply response of Turkey's banks, depending on their balance sheet...

This Selected Issues paper on Kuwait reviews its economic development strategy and uses a variety of analytical methods to highlight Kuwait’s policy challenges and their effectiveness. Kuwait has accumulated large fiscal surpluses, enabling it to build up a sizable asset position for...

This paper develops a model to assess how monetary policy rates affect bank risk-taking. In the model, a reduction in the risk-free rate increases lending profitability by reducing funding costs and increasing the surplus the monopolistic bank extracts from borrowers. Under limited liability,...

The global financial crisis affected microfinance institutions (MFIs) as lending growth was constrained by scarcer borrowing opportunities, while the economic slowdown negatively impacted asset quality and profitability. It also brought to the fore the relatively high interest rates that MFIs...