Bank lending is a key channel through which monetary policy affects the real economy. This column explores how the effects of monetary policy on credit are shaped by bank specialisation in borrower industries and size categories. Analysing granular loan data reveals that such specialisation is widespread among euro area banks. Moreover, higher specialisation is typically […]
The starkly different paths of economic and institutional development followed by China and the West is often attributed largely to the Industrial Revolution. This column argues that institutions and culture played a key role in setting Europe and China on divergent paths well before the onset of the Industrial Revolution, but the role they played […]
Earlier this year, the World Bank conducted the second round of a Data Sharing Exercise with G-7 and Paris Club creditors. This is the first large-scale effort of its kind to systematically compare creditor- and debtor-reported data at the loan-by-loan level. Since the release of the March 2025 report, the 2025 G-7 Finance Ministers’ Communiqué highlighted the exercise and […]
Safe assets are financial instruments that maintain a stable value even after adverse macroeconomic shocks. This column explores how banks supply safe assets through securitisation and evaluates the consequences for financial stability. As safe assets become scarcer, banks increasingly rely on securitisation to produce safe assets, relaxing screening standards in the process. This lowers loan […]
