Negative Nominal Interest Rates Research Articles

Going Negative at the Zero Lower Bound: The Effects of Negative Nominal Interest Rates

After the Great Recession several central banks started setting negative nominal interest rates in an expansionary attempt, but the effectiveness of this measure remains unclear. Negative rates can stimulate the economy by lowering the rates that commercial banks charge on loans, but they can also erode bank profitability by squeezing deposit spreads. This paper studies the effects of negative rates in a new DSGE model where banks intermediate the transmission of monetary policy. I use bank-level data to calibrate the model and find that monetary policy in negative territory is between 60 and 90 percent as effective as in positive territory. (JEL E12, E32, E43, E52, E58, G21)

Going Negative at the Zero Lower Bound: The Effects of Negative Nominal Interest Rates

After the Great Recession several central banks started setting negative nominal interest rates in an expansionary attempt, but the effectiveness of this measure remains unclear. Negative rates can stimulate the economy by lowering the rates that commercial banks charge on loans, but they can also erode bank profitability by squeezing deposit spreads. This paper studies the effects of negative rates in a new DSGE model where banks intermediate the transmission of monetary policy. I use bank-level data to calibrate the model and find that monetary policy in negative territory is between 60% and 90% as effective as in positive territory.

The fallacy of the natural rate of interest and zero lower bound economics: why negative interest rates may not remedy Keynesian unemployment

This paper provides a critique of zero lower bound (ZLB) economics which has become the new orthodoxy for explaining stagnation. ZLB economics is an extension of pre-Keynesian economics which attributes macroeconomic dysfunction to rigidities and market imperfections. The ZLB is the latest rigidity in that pre-Keynesian tradition. The paper argues negative nominal interest rates, even if feasible, may be unable to remedy Keynesian demand shortage unemployment, and might even aggravate the problem. That is because there exist non-reproduced assets whose return dominates that of investment, and saving may also increase in response to negative rates. Consequently, there may be no natural rate of interest.

Negative Nominal Interest Rates and the Bank Lending Channel

Following the crisis of 2008, several central banks engaged in a new experiment by setting negative policy rates. Using aggregate and bank level data, we document that deposit rates stopped responding to policy rates once they went negative and that bank lending rates in some cases increased rather than decreased in response to policy rate cuts. Based on the empirical evidence, we construct a macro-model with a banking sector that links together policy rates, deposit rates and lending rates. Once the policy rate turns negative, the usual transmission mechanism of monetary policy through the bank sector breaks down. Moreover, because a negative policy rate reduces bank profits, the total effect on aggregate output can be contractionary. A calibration which matches Swedish bank level data suggests that a policy rate of - 0.50 percent increases borrowing rates by 15 basis points and reduces output by 7 basis points.

Leverage and Risk-Weighted Capital in Banking Regulation

This paper offers a critical survey of the swings in banking regulation, notably with reference to leverage and Risk-Weighted Ratios (RWR). At the outset, a distinction is made between economic and Regulatory Capital (ReC) and between private and social costs/benefits of equity finance for banking firms. The inherent limitations of the transformation process of assets into a combined size-risk metric, amplified by Negative Nominal Interest Rates (NNIRs), are brought to the fore, as well as the relative ease of circumventing the rules. The complexity of regulatory risk weighting creates significant (fixed) compliance costs. Unless appropriate tiering is adopted, a competitive distortion is created in favor of large banking institutions. These shortcomings were especially evident in the Basel II standard. With reference to the Basel III/IV framework, it is argued that the two regulatory ratios (leverage and risk-weighted capital) can be complementary, but require close and constant supervision, rather than the quest for an optimal (steady state) ex ante calibration, which may prove time inconsistent. Emphasis should be placed on corporate governance and on the effective interaction between supervisory activity and internal controls. This is usefully complemented by stress-testing techniques which are less model-dependent. Potential drawbacks inherent in recent regulatory changes in the US (community banks have now the option of abandoning tiered risk-weighted requirements and adopting exclusively a leverage constraint, higher than 9%) are indicated.

Why Have Negative Nominal Interest Rates Had Such a Small Effect on Bank Performance? Cross Country Evidence

We examine the effect of negative nominal interest rates on bank profitability and behavior using a cross-country panel of over 5,100 banks in 27 countries. Our data set includes annual observations for Japanese and European banks between 2010 and 2016, which covers all advanced economies that have experienced negative nominal rates, including currency union members as well as both fixed and floating exchange rates countries. When we compare negative nominal interest rates with low positive rates, banks experience losses in interest income that are almost exactly offset by savings on deposit expenses and gains in non-interest income, including capital gains on securities and fees. We find heterogeneous effects of negative rates: banks from regimes with floating exchange rates, small banks, and banks with low deposit ratios drive most of our results. Low-deposit banks have enjoyed particularly striking gains in non-interest income, likely from capital gains on securities. There have only been modest differences between high and low deposit-ratio banks’ changes in interest expenses; high deposit banks do not seem disproportionately vulnerable to negative rates. Banks also responded to negative rates by increasing lending activity, and raising the share of deposit funding. Overall, our results indicate surprisingly benign implications of negative rates for commercial banks thus far.

Exchange rate behaviour with negative interest rates: Some early negative observations

AbstractThis paper examines exchange rate behaviour during the recent period with negative nominal interest rates. We use a daily panel of data of 61 currencies from January 2010 to May 2016; during this time five economies (Denmark, EMU, Japan, Sweden and Switzerland) experienced negative nominal interest rates. We examine both effective exchange rates and bilateral rates, the latter typically measured against the Swiss franc because Switzerland has had the longest period of negative nominal rates. We examine exchange rate volatility, exchange rate changes, deviations from uncovered interest parity, and profits from the carry trade. We find that negative interest rates seem to have little effect on observable exchange rate behaviour.

Durations at the Zero Lower Bound

Many central banks in developed countries have had very low policy rates for quite some time. A growing number are experimenting with official rates that are negative. We develop a New Keynesian model in which the zero lower bound (ZLB) on nominal interest rates is imposed as an occasionally binding constraint and use this model to examine the duration of ZLB episodes. In addition, we show that capital accumulation and capital adjustment costs can raise significantly the length of time an economy spends at the ZLB, as can the conduct of monetary policy. We identify anticipation effects that make the ZLB more likely to bind and we show that allowing negative nominal interest rates shortens average durations, but only by about one quarter.

The impact of setting negative policy rates on banking flows and exchange rates

In the aftermath of the great contraction of 2008, policymakers were faced with the Zero Lower Bound (ZLB) on nominal interest rates. Central banks implemented several unconventional monetary policies to overcome the ZLB, including setting negative nominal interest rates. This paper explores possible unintended effects of setting negative policy rates. Using Danish data, I assess the impact of paying a negative interest rate on reserves. Results suggest that going into negative territory has a particular impact, distinct from that of simply lowering interest rates: it leads to higher banking outflows and depreciation of the currency. Due to the reluctance of commercial banks to pass on negative rates to their depositors (retail deposits can easily be switched into cash), paying a negative (vs. positive) interest rate on reserves creates a disconnection between the assets and liabilities of commercial banks' balance sheets. Commercial banks can avoid this disconnection by holding external assets or assets in foreign currencies. This incentive to increase banking outflows appears to explain the particular impact of going into negative territory.

Menová politika záporných úrokových sadzieb v eurozóne a Japonsku

Since 2014, European Central Bank and Bank of Japan have entered into the unchartered water of modest negative nominal interest rates, when they broke zero lower bound. Large-scale asset purchases and forward guidance effects are limited by zero nominal bound if yield curve is absolutely flat. Negative interest rate has been implemented with the aim of reinforcing effects of unconventional monetary policy and lowering real interest rates. Therefore, another decrease in nominal yield curve should ensure, that inflation target will be met in a medium term horizon. Main goal of the paper is to reveal implementation, transmission channels and risks associated with the negative interest rates. Implementation was successful within the existing framework of the current monetary policy. Negative effective interest rate has been reflected in sharp drop of governments yield curve and mortgage rates. According current constellation of negative interest rates, monetary effect outperforms potential unintended impacts. On the other side, there are many risks mainly for financial stability and financial market functioning, if negative interest rates will be under effective zero lower bound or will persists for an extended period.

Negative interest rates: Causes and consequences

As of mid-2016, almost one-third of global economy has been affected by negative interest rates. Nevertheless, the prevailing opinion among influential policymakers has been that the nominal interest rates are essentially zero-bound. Thus, it’s not really clear what caused the recent breach of the zero percent level in many countries, and further, whether the US economy will also experience negative nominal interest rates. This article explains the following: (1) the arguments for the zero-bound on nominal interest rates, (2) the causes of the breach of the zero percent level, and (3) the implications for investors.

Silvio Gesell: “A strange, unduly neglected” monetary theorist

In recent years negative nominal interest rates came to the attention of a wider audience as one instrument to overcome the lower zero bound to conventional monetary policy. Modern proponents trace the origin of the proposal back to Silvio Gesell, a largely forgotten German autodidactic scholar of the interwar period, whose work provides valuable insight into heterodox late nineteenth- and twentieth-century economic thinking. Against this backdrop, the present article provides a comprehensive review of Gesell’s life and social economy, firmly linking him to German anarchism of the interwar period. It suggests that Gesell not only provided a monetary theory of interest, but put forward an independent monetary theory of economic crisis that is essential in understanding the historical origins of depreciative currency proposals. Moreover, the article maintains that Gesell’s monetary theory of interest can be seen as the missing link between heterodox economics, The General Theory, and anarchist economic theory.

OPTIMAL MONETARY POLICY AND IMPERFECT FINANCIAL MARKETS: A CASE FOR NEGATIVE NOMINAL INTEREST RATES?

AbstractThis article studies optimal monetary policy in a model with credit frictions and money demand. We show that augmenting a standard New Keynesian model with money demand and financial frictions generates a mechanism that, in equilibrium, gives rise to optimal negative nominal interest rates. In addition, we find that the tighter credit markets are, the lower the optimal nominal policy interest rate and the more likely it is to be negative. Quantitatively, when credit constraints are binding, a standard calibration of the model generates an optimal nominal policy interest rate that is roughly −4% annually. (JEL E31, E41, E43, E44, E52, E58)

From commodity standard to deposit standard: the near completion of a secular cycle in monetary globalization

e advent and international proliferation of unconventional monetary policy is the logical consequence of interventionism in the monetary and bankingeld. It was made necessary by central bank policies of managing and constantly lowering the interest rates. Once the zero lower bound is reached, the next logical step for the monetary authorities is to look for ways to continue lowering rates through it. To abolish cash and institute the exclusive use of bank deposits is one enticing proposal to overcome this limitation. us, the potency of monetary policy can be preserved by the new capacity of charging negative nominal interest rates. However, the arguments against cash are not new. We are going to show in this paper that the same arguments that were previously used to impose banknotes are today used to forbid them.

Optimal Monetary Policy and Imperfect Financial Markets: A Case for Negative Nominal Interest Rates?

This article studies optimal monetary policy in a model with credit frictions and money demand. We show that augmenting a standard New Keynesian model with money demand and financial frictions generates a mechanism that, in equilibrium, gives rise to optimal negative nominal interest rates. In addition, we find that the tighter credit markets are, the lower the optimal nominal policy interest rate and the more likely it is to be negative. Quantitatively, when credit constraints are binding, a standard calibration of the model generates an optimal nominal policy interest rate that is roughly −4% annually.

Editors’ Introduction

Editors’ Introduction

Estimating Shadow-Rate Term Structure Models with Near-Zero Yields

Standard Gaussian affine dynamic term structure models do not rule out negative nominal interest rates—a conspicuous defect with yields near zero in many countries. Alternative shadow-rate models, which respect the nonlinearity at the zero lower bound, have been rarely used because of the extreme computational burden of their estimation. However, by valuing the call option on negative shadow yields, we provide estimates of a three-factor shadow-rate model of Japanese yields. We validate our option-based results by closely matching them using a simulation-based approach. We also show that the shadow short rate is sensitive to model fit and specification. ( JEL: G12, E43, E52, E58)

Estimating Shadow-Rate Term Structure Models with Near-Zero Yields

Standard Gaussian term structure models have often been criticized for not ruling out negative nominal interest rates, but this flaw has been especially conspicuous with interest rates near zero in many countries. We provide a tractable means to estimate an alternative Gaussian shadow-rate dynamic term structure model that enforces the zero lower bound on bond yields. We illustrate this model by estimating one-, two-, and three-factor shadow-rate models on a sample of positive and near-zero Japanese bond yields. We find that the level of the shadow rate is sensitive to model fit and specification, including the number of factors employed.

Overcoming the Zero Bound on Interest Rate Policy

The paper proposes three options for overcoming the zero bound on interest rate policy: a carry tax on money, open market operations in long bonds, and monetary transfers. A variable carry tax on electronic bank reserves could enable a central bank to target negative nominal interest rates. A carry tax could be imposed on currency to create more leeway to make interest rates negative. Quantitative policy--monetary transfers and open market purchases of long bonds -- could stimulate the economy by creating liquidity broadly defined. A central bank needs more fiscal support than usual from the Treasury to pursue quantitative policy at the interest rate floor.

Negative nominal interest rates: history and current proposals

Given the renewed interest in negative interest rates on base money—or equivalently ‘taxing money’—as a means for overcoming the zero bound on short-term nominal interest rates, this article reviews the history of negative nominal interest rates starting from the ‘taxing money’ proposal of Silvio Gesell up to current proposals that received popular attention in the wake of the financial crisis of 2007/2008. It is demonstrated that ‘taxing money’ proposals have a long intellectual history and that instead of being the conjecture of a monetary crank, they are a serious policy proposal. In a second step, the article points out that besides the more popular debate on a Gesell tax as a means to remove the zero bound on nominal interest rates, there is a class of neoclassical search models that advocates a negative tax on money as efficiency enhancing. This strand of the literature has so far been largely ignored by the policy debate on negative interest rates.