MRB on Expresso Portugal – March 16, 2019
Monetary policy is rendered somewhat impotent in economies that are deleveraging. This is because the supply and demand for credit are being influenced by something other than merely the cost of capital. Monetary policy can help slow deleveraging drags, but fiscal stimulus is often necessary to providing an offset and encourage a sustained economic expansion. This has been lacking in the euro area, which is why economic growth is subdued and prone to downside risks. A great deal of progress has been made in terms of balance sheet repair which makes the region more resilient than earlier this decade and more so than investors expect. Nonetheless, a fiscal offset would be helpful, at least until the deleveraging cycle runs its course.