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The "imbalanced balance" and its unravelling: current accounts and bilateral financial flows in the euro area

Author

Listed:
  • Alexandr Hobza
  • Stefan Zeugner
Abstract
Based on a new database of bilateral financial flows among euro area countries and their major world partners, this paper explores the role of financial links in the accumulation and then adjustment of current account imbalances in the euro area. The data show that the geography of financial flows can differ quite markedly from trade flow patterns and suggest that the nexus between surpluses in the 'core' with deficits in the periphery went along financial rather than trade interlinkages. In particular, the data document the dominant role of 'core' countries in financing the euro area periphery's current account deficits before the financial crisis. In addition to direct financing, France and the UK acted as important intermediaries of financial flows from elsewhere, particularly outside of the euro area. Most of this financing took the form of debt instruments and increased the vulnerability of the recipient countries. In 2009/10, gross flows in the euro area contracted, while the net flows remained broadly unchanged. France became the periphery's main financier in 2009 and substituted the withdrawn flows from surplus countries, mainly Germany. Only when France reduced its exposure in a hasty asset withdrawal during 2011, the periphery had to rely on large ECB-mediated liabilities in order to refinance its liabilities.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexandr Hobza & Stefan Zeugner, 2014. "The "imbalanced balance" and its unravelling: current accounts and bilateral financial flows in the euro area," European Economy - Economic Papers 2008 - 2015 520, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    • Handle: RePEc:euf:ecopap:0520
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Gadatsch, Niklas & Stähler, Nikolai & Weigert, Benjamin, 2016. "German labor market and fiscal reforms 1999–2008: Can they be blamed for intra-euro area imbalances?," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 307-324.
    2. António Afonso & Jorge Silva, 2017. "Current account balance cyclicality," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(13), pages 911-917, July.
    3. Claudio Borio & Piti Disyatat, 2015. "Capital flows and the current account: Taking financing (more) seriously," BIS Working Papers 525, Bank for International Settlements.
    4. Ruppert, Kilian & Stähler, Nikolai, 2020. "Household savings, capital investments and public policies: What drives the German current account?," Discussion Papers 41/2020, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    5. Enno Schröder, 2015. "Eurozone Imbalances: Measuring the Contribution of Expenditure Switching and Expenditure Volumes 1990-2013," Working Papers 1508, New School for Social Research, Department of Economics, revised Sep 2015.
    6. Esposito, Piero, 2017. "Trade creation, trade diversion and imbalances in the EMU," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 462-472.
    7. António Afonso & João Tovar Jalles, 2019. "Decomposing and Analysing the Determinants of Current Accounts’ Cyclicality: Evidence from the Euro Area," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 133-156, February.
    8. repec:wsr:wpaper:y:2016:i:173 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Ruppert, Kilian & Stähler, Nikolai, 2022. "What drives the German current account? Household savings, capital investments and public policies," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    10. Timo Bettendorf & Miguel A. León‐Ledesma, 2019. "German Wage Moderation and European Imbalances: Feeding the Global VAR with Theory," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 51(2-3), pages 617-653, March.
    11. Jakob Kapeller & Claudius Graebner & Philipp Heimberger, 2019. "Economic Polarisation in Europe: Causes and Policy Options," ICAE Working Papers 99, Johannes Kepler University, Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy.
    12. Claudio Borio & Piti Disyatat, 2015. "Capital flows and the current account: Taking financing (more) seriously," BIS Working Papers 525, Bank for International Settlements.
    13. McQuade, Peter & Schmitz, Martin, 2017. "The great moderation in international capital flows: A global phenomenon?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(PA), pages 188-212.
    14. Antonin Rusek, 2014. "Eurozone’s Future: Convergence, Restructuring or “Muddling Through”?," Eurasian Journal of Economics and Finance, Eurasian Publications, vol. 2(3), pages 45-56.
    15. Michele Catalano & Emilia Pezzolla, 2016. "The effects of education and aging in an OLG model: long-run growth in France, Germany and Italy," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 43(4), pages 757-800, November.
    16. Borio, Claudio, 2016. "On the centrality of the current account in international economics," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 266-274.
    17. Mirdala, Rajmund & Semančíková, Jozefína & Ruščáková, Anna, 2019. "Determinants of Export and Import Functions in the EU Member Countries," MPRA Paper 99535, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Mirdala, Rajmund, 2015. "Real Exchange Rates, Current Accounts and Competitiveness Issues in the Euro Area," MPRA Paper 68864, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F32 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Current Account Adjustment; Short-term Capital Movements
    • F34 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Lending and Debt Problems
    • F36 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Financial Aspects of Economic Integration
    • F41 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Open Economy Macroeconomics

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