Download or read book Strengthening the Euro Area written by Mr.John C Bluedorn and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2019-06-17 with total page 31 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cross-country differences in economic resilience—in an economy’s ability to withstand and adjust to shocks—remain significant in the euro area. In part, the differences reflect the lack of a national nominal exchange rate as a mechanism to adjust to shocks. The IMF staff has argued that union-wide architectural changes such as the banking union, the capital markets union, and a central fiscal capacity can help foster greater international risk sharing. Yet even these changes cannot insure against all shocks. National policies thus have a vital role to play. This IMF staff discussion note analyzes how national structural policies can help euro area countries better deal with economic shocks. Using a mix of empirical and modeling approaches, the note finds that growth-enhancing reforms to labor and product market regulations, tailored to country-specific circumstances, would help individual euro area economies weather adverse shocks. Higher-quality insolvency regimes are associated with more efficient factor reallocation following a shock. The note also finds that structural and cyclical policies interact. Greater rigidities make economies more fragile, putting a higher burden on fiscal policy. This is especially true for members of a monetary union. Countries should build fiscal space in good times and tackle rigidities, reducing their need for countercyclical policies in bad times while making countercyclical policies more effective when deployed.

Download or read book Building a Better Union written by Angana Banerji and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2015-09-11 with total page 41 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The momentum for structural reforms is waning in the euro area at a time when even faster progress is needed to boost productivity and growth, achieve real economic convergence, and improve the resilience of the monetary union. What can the European Union (EU) institutions do to bridge this divide? This paper argues for greater simplicity, transparency and accountability in the EU governance framework for structural reforms. Our three interrelated proposals—“outcome-based” benchmarking; better use of existing EU processes to strengthen oversight and reduce discretion; and improved financial incentives—could help advance reforms. Ex post monitoring by an independent EU-level “structural council” and ex ante policy innovation by national productivity councils could strengthen accountability and ownership. Deeper governance reforms should be considered in the medium-term with a view toward a greater EU role in promoting convergence.

Download or read book A Banking Union for the Euro Area written by Rishi Goyal and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2013-02-12 with total page 31 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The SDN elaborates the case for, and the design of, a banking union for the euro area. It discusses the benefits and costs of a banking union, presents a steady state view of the banking union, elaborates difficult transition issues, and briefly discusses broader EU issues. As such, it assesses current plans and provides advice. It is accompanied by three background technical notes that analyze in depth the various elements of the banking union: a single supervisory framework; a single resolution and common safety net; and urgent issues related to repair of weak banks in Europe.

Download or read book How to Fix the Euro written by Stephen Pickford and published by Chatham House. This book was released on 2015-01-31 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The global economic and financial crisis that started in 2007 exposed serious flaws in the euro's original design. This report examines why Europe's economic and monetary union was so badly affected by the crisis, and assesses whether further changes need to be made to the structure of economic governance that underpins it. A Chatham House, Elcano and AREL Report

Download or read book Monetary and Exchange Rate Policies of the Euro Area written by International Monetary Fund and published by INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND. This book was released on 2000-04-03 with total page 47 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The economic conditions in the euro area have brightened. Executive Directors commended the policy stance of the European Central Bank. They noted that the exchange rate developments of the euro failed to strengthen the euro area economy, and stressed the need for fiscal discipline, structural reforms, and wage moderation at the national level to maintain price stability in the medium term. They emphasized the need for deeper integration of European Union financial markets, development of risk capital, and improvement of the quality and sustainability of public finances.

Download or read book Toward A Fiscal Union for the Euro Area written by Céline Allard and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2013-09-25 with total page 29 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is on a highly topical issue and addresses a key policy issue for Europe—namely, reinforcing EMU institutional architecture along with the Banking Union. Some proposals have emerged in Europe, and it will be important to put out staff views on this issue. In that context, publication as an SDN is appropriate, given the high profile nature and relevance of the topic—much like the Banking Union paper done a few months ago.

Download or read book The Mechanics of a Strong Euro Area written by Ms.Petya Koeva Brooks and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2015-10-21 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Among member states, many structural weaknesses were exposed when economic performance declined significantly and financial markets became more discerning. This book focuses on the analytical underpinnings of real-time policy advice given to euro area policymakers during four cycles of the IMF’s annual Article IV consultations (2012–15) with euro area authorities.

Download or read book Euro Area Policies written by International Monetary Fund. European Dept. and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2017-07-25 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper focuses on the convergence performance of euro area countries before and after euro introduction. The analysis compares per capita incomes across countries, both for the initial group of twelve countries that adopted the euro before 2002 (the so-called EA-12) as well as the current group of 19 euro area members (EA-19). The convergence process has stalled since the introduction of the euro, except for new euro area members which reduced their income gaps vis-à-vis the founding members until their adoption of the common currency. The convergence of income levels is not a prerequisite for a functioning monetary union, but has been considered an important objective of the European economic integration process. Lagging productivity growth in countries with lower initial GDP per capita is found to be the main explanation for the lack of convergence, suggesting that structural reforms can help to restart the convergence process.

Download or read book Revisiting the Economic Case for Fiscal Union in the Euro Area written by Mr.Helge Berger and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2018-02-20 with total page 63 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The paper makes an analytical contribution to the revived discussion about the euro area’s institutional setup. After significant progress during the euro crisis, the drive to complete Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) had stalled, and the way forward will benefit from an in-depth look at the conceptual issues raised by the evolution and architecture of Europe, and the tradeoffs involved. A thorough look at the underlying economic issues suggests that in the long run, EMU will benefit from progressing along three mutually supporting tracks: introduce more fiscal risk sharing, helping to make the sovereign “no bailout” rule credible; complementary financial sector reforms to delink sovereigns and banks; and more effective rules to discourage moral hazard. This evolution would ensure that financial markets provide incentives for fiscal discipline. Introducing more fiscal union comes with myriad legal, technical, operational, and political problems, raising questions well beyond the remit of economics. But without decisive progress to foster fiscal risk sharing, EMU will continue to face existential risks.

Download or read book Economic Convergence in the Euro Area Coming Together or Drifting Apart written by Mr.Jeffrey R. Franks and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2018-01-23 with total page 47 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We examine economic convergence among euro area countries on multiple dimensions. While there was nominal convergence of inflation and interest rates, real convergence of per capita income levels has not occurred among the original euro area members since the advent of the common currency. Income convergence stagnated in the early years of the common currency and has reversed in the wake of the global economic crisis. New euro area members, in contrast, have seen real income convergence. Business cycles became more synchronized, but the amplitude of those cycles diverged. Financial cycles showed a similar pattern: sychronizing more over time, but with divergent amplitudes. Income convergence requires reforms boosting productivity growth in lagging countries, while cyclical and financial convergence can be enhanced by measures to improve national and euro area fiscal policies, together with steps to deepen the single market.

Download or read book Euro Area Policies written by International Monetary Fund. European Dept. and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2023-07-19 with total page 18 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Euro Area Policies: Selected Issues

Download or read book Euro Area Policies written by International Monetary Fund. Monetary and Capital Markets Department and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2018-07-20 with total page 86 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Overall the resilience of large euro area banks has improved, but important vulnerabilities remain. Capital buffers are in aggregate sizeable relative to immediate threats, but some banks are especially vulnerable to credit risk and others to market risks, including a substantial rise in risk premia. The banking system as a whole has ample liquidity, against a backdrop of ECB support. At a structural level, low profitability is found in many banks across all business models, despite improving conjunctural conditions. The interconnectedness analysis shows that strong buffers are effective in dampening both vulnerabilities and onward transmission. Risks to financial stability relate mainly to tighter financial conditions, weaker growth, and policy and geopolitical uncertainties. The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU (Brexit) could potentially disrupt financial market and services, and thus the wider economy. Also, policy reversals could hurt debt sustainability and test the cohesion of policy making in the union.

Download or read book Dominant Currencies and External Adjustment written by Gustavo Adler and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2020-07-20 with total page 46 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The extensive use of the US dollar when firms set prices for international trade (dubbed dominant currency pricing) and in their funding (dominant currency financing) has come to the forefront of policy debate, raising questions about how exchange rates work and the benefits of exchange rate flexibility. This Staff Discussion Note documents these features of international trade and finance and explores their implications for how exchange rates can help external rebalancing and buffer macroeconomic shocks.

Download or read book Strengthening the Euro Area written by Mr.Romain A Duval and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2019-06-13 with total page 31 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The SDN will focus mostly on EA countries but also touch on other AEs for comparison purposes. The SDN will make several original contributions in each of the areas above based on new DSGE-model-based analysis, cross-country panel regressions, and individual-level (firm- or household-level) empirical work where appropriate.

Download or read book The Re Emerging Privilege of Euro Area Membership written by Mr.Johannes Wiegand and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2017-07-18 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the euro was introduced in 1998, one objective was to create an alternative global reserve currency that would grant benefits to euro area countries similar to the U.S. dollar’s “exorbitant privliege”: i.e., a boost to the perceived quality of euro denominated assets that would increase demand for such assets and reduce euro area members’ funding costs. This paper uses risk perceptions as revelaed in investor surveys to extract a measure of privilege asscociated with euro membership, and traces its evolution over time. It finds that in the 2000s, euro area assets benefited indeed from a significant perceptions premium. While this premium disappeared in the wake of the euro crisis, it has recently returned, although at a reduced size. The paper also produces time-varying estimates of the weights that investors place on macro-economic fundmentals in their assessments of country risk. It finds that the weights of public debt, the current account and real growth increased considerably during the euro crisis, and that these shifts have remained in place even after the immediate financial stress subsided.

Download or read book Fragmentation and Monetary Policy in the Euro Area written by Mr.Ali J Al-Eyd and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2013-10-04 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ECB has taken a range of actions to address bank funding problems, eliminate excessive risk in sovereign markets, and safeguard monetary transmission. But euro area financial markets have remained fragmented, driving retail interest rates in stressed markets far above those in the core. This has impeded the flow of credit and undermined the transmission of monetary policy. Analysis presented here indicates that the credit channel of monetary policy has broken down during the crisis, particularly in stressed markets, and that SMEs in these economies appear to be most affected by elevated lending rates.Given these stresses, the ECB can undertake additional targeted policy measures, including through additional term loans, collateral policies, and private asset purchases.

Download or read book Euro Area Policies written by International Monetary Fund. European Dept. and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2016-07-08 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This 2016 Article IV Consultation highlights that the recovery in euro area has strengthened recently. Lower oil prices, a broadly neutral fiscal stance, and accommodative monetary policy are supporting domestic demand. However, inflation and inflation expectations remain very low, below the European Central Bank’s medium-term price stability objective. Euro area GDP growth is expected to decelerate from 1.6 percent in 2016 to 1.4 percent in 2017, mainly owing to the negative impact of the U.K. referendum outcome. Growth five years ahead is expected to be about 1.5 percent, with headline inflation reaching only 1.7 percent.