Government Debt : A Key Role in Financial Intermediation /

The literature on optimal fiscal policy finds that highly volatile real returns on government debt, for example through surprise inflation, have very low costs. However, policymakers are almost always very apprehensive of this option. The paper discusses evidence concerning features of developing co...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Kumhof, Michael
Other Authors: Tanner, Evan
Format: Journal
Language:English
Published: Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, 2005.
Series:IMF Working Papers; Working Paper ; No. 2005/057
Online Access:Full text available on IMF
Description
Summary:The literature on optimal fiscal policy finds that highly volatile real returns on government debt, for example through surprise inflation, have very low costs. However, policymakers are almost always very apprehensive of this option. The paper discusses evidence concerning features of developing country financial markets that are missing in existing models, and that may suggest why this policy is considered so costly in practice. Most importantly, domestic banks choose to be highly exposed to government debt because the alternative, private lending, is more risky under existing legal and institutional imperfections. This exposure makes banks and their borrowers vulnerable to the government's debt policy.
Item Description:<strong>Off-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required
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Physical Description:1 online resource (29 pages)
Format:Mode of access: Internet
ISSN:1018-5941
Access:Electronic access restricted to authorized BRAC University faculty, staff and students