Abstract
This paper evaluates the macroeconomic effects of the announcements of the European Central Bank's Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) program. Using high-frequency data, we find that the OMT announcements decreased the Italian and Spanish two-year government bond yields by about 2 percentage points, while leaving unchanged the bond yields of the same maturity in Germany and France. These results are used to calibrate a scenario in a multi-country model describing the macrofinancial linkages in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. The scenario analysis suggests that the reduction in bond yields due to the OMT announcements is associated with a significant increase in real activity, credit, and prices in Italy and Spain, with some relatively muted spillovers in France and Germany.
Authors
- Carlo Altavilla
- Domenico Giannone
- Michele Lenza
JEL codes
- E47
- E58
- C54