Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/277416 
Year of Publication: 
2018
Citation: 
[Journal:] European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention (EJEEP) [ISSN:] 2052-7772 [Volume:] 15 [Issue:] 2 [Year:] 2018 [Pages:] 147-159
Publisher: 
Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham
Abstract: 
The recent financial literature seems to have reached a consensus about the influence of European Central Bank (ECB) unconventional monetary policies in explaining the multiple divergent trends of TARGET2 (T2) balances in the eurozone from 2010 and the ensuing segregation of risks in each national economy. According to the ECB, 'mechanical' effects in the accounting of government bonds explain the explosion of T2 balances. Divergence could therefore not be attributable to a 'capital flight' from peripheral economies towards northern Europe. Such an explanation does not seem to fit well with the analysed cases of Italy, Spain, and Germany. A decomposition of the T2 balances through the analysis of the financial accounts of the balance of payments shows indeed that the deterioration in the balances of Italy and Spain is mainly due to a shift of private-sector financial wealth from government securities to foreign assets (bonds, shares, and mutual funds). In the case of Germany, the abnormal growth of T2 balances is mainly attributed to the persistent influence of current-account surpluses reaching 6–8 percent of GDP and increasing due to the indirect effects of quantitative easing policies on the exchange rate between the euro and the other major international currencies.
Subjects: 
capital flows
payment system
financial crisis
quantitative easing
interbank lending
JEL: 
E42
E44
E52
E58
F32
F34
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article

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