The literature on the interaction of fiscal risk and financial stability – A survey

Abstract

This article presents a review of the literature on aspects of fiscal and financial crises. Firstly, an analysis is made on how fiscal policy may become unsustainable, whether it is due to a worsening of the fundamentals of a country, or to increasing international financial turmoil. Particular attention is paid to the literature on the role of financial institutions and their sovereign links in a crisis context. This link may mean that sovereign stress is transferred to the banks, via holdings of sovereign debt or vice versa, on account of the implicit (or explicit) guarantee that banks may have from the sovereign. Secondly, a review is made of the determining factors of the connectedness amongst financial institutions and between sovereign banks. The indicators of connectedness can help understand how systemic risk builds up. Finally, an analysis is made on how the debate on macro-prudential policy has evolved to tackle the issue of system-wide financial stress.