Archiv vyhledávání

In the last few years, the bank lending channel has attracted enormous interest among researchers (Albertazzi et al., 2021; Cantero-Saiz et al., 2014, 2022; Jiménez et al., 2020). This channel proposes that monetary policy decisions alter the supply of loans by affecting the financial conditions of banks (Bernanke & Blinder, 1988; Disyatat, 2011). However, the reaction of banks to monetary shocks depends on their financial strength. In this regard, the credit supply of weaker banks, such as those that are smaller, less liquid or more poorly capitalised, is more sensitive to monetary impulses because these banks have more difficulties in obtaining loanable funds (Kashyap & Stein, 2000; Kishan & Opiela, 2000). Another important factor that can also affect the financial conditions of banks and the bank lending channel, which has received scant exploration, is the implementation of sustainable business models, which are becoming a key element in the strategies and practices of many banks.

With the creation of EMU (Economic and Monetary Union), new economic conditions were also created. Before entering the euro area, the EU (European Union) member states must fulfill the convergence criteria (or “Maastricht convergence criteria”), which are based on economic indicators and they must continue to respect them once entered. One of the criteria is the price stability and height of the inflation rate. Together with the creation of a new economy, the topic of examining inflation persistence has become actual, particularly over the past decades. Inflation persistence is one of the most important parameters influencing the conduct of monetary policy. The central bank is interested in the degree of inflation persistence to improve inflation forecasting and reliably estimate the dynamic responses of inflation to shocks. The persistence of inflation is known to have a strong impact on monetary policy. If there is considerable inertia in inflation, then inflation shocks take a long-lasting nature and make it difficult for the central bank to control it.

The financial crisis is a manifestation of excessive debt, the so-called balance sheet recession (Krugman, 2014). A typical feature of a balance sheet recession is that the business objectives of most companies have been changed from profit maximization to debt minimization due to increased liabilities, and the decline in credit demand prolonged the recession. The continued accumulation of excessive debt burdens as well as an abrupt drop of debt scale may increase the probability of a financial crisis (Cecchetti et al., 2011; Khoo et al., 2017; Jarmuzek & Rozenov, 2019). The countries like Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain and Ireland experienced severe debt expansion during the crisis (Koo, 2011). Koo (2015) believes that the global economic recession in 2008 is essentially the same as the Japanese economic recession that began in the early 1990s. These phenomena motivated academics and policymakers to examine the cause and policy mitigation of excessive debt.

After financial crisis in 2008, both financial and non-financial institutions, governments and monetary authorities as regulators faced great challenges in overcoming recent depression. Although different market participants in different fields reacted and accommodated in their own ways, they relied on monetary authorities more than they did before crisis. Monetary authorities were in position to deliver policies accommodative enough to stimulate economy, or at least reduce damage cumulated during crisis period. From our point of view, first step was pushing interest rates near zero level or lower in order to loosen borrowing conditions. But, on the other hand, monetary authorities approached to changes in legislation in order to prevent situation that caused crisis in the first place. In other words, meeting requirements for getting access to capital become stricter.

Modern monetary policy focuses on inflation expectations. It is consistent with modern monetary theory: new neoclassical synthesis (NNS). NNS gives the background of monetary transmission mechanism. New Keynesian Phillips Curve, IS curve (production equation) as well as central bank’s reaction function include economic agents’ expectations.

The recent economic crisis and the events that followed, namely the debt crisis, pointed to a number of issues of European Economic and monetary union (EMU), such as particularly persistent asymmetries and differences in development. Due to the high interconnectedness of member countries’ economies, it is no longer possible to perceive the problems of one country as isolated, since the negative effects are spread throughout the EMU.