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The Heterogeneous Bank Lending Channel of Monetary Policy

Jorge Abad, Saki Bigio, García, Salomón, Marbet, Joël and Nuño, Galo

No 21519, CEPR Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research

Abstract: How does heterogeneity in banks' interest-rate risk exposure shape monetary policy transmission? We develop a quantitative macroeconomic model of heterogeneous banks to answer this question. We establish an irrelevance result: differences in interest-rate risk exposure between fixed- and variable-rate banking systems matter for transmission only when bank solvency concerns become relevant. Calibrating the model to the euro area, we show that idiosyncratic default risk pushes a substantial share of banks toward the solvency threshold, making heterogeneity quantitatively important. When policy rates rise, fixed-rate banks suffer net interest margin compression — funding costs increase while legacy loan income stays unchanged — eroding capital and triggering sharper deleveraging. The lending elasticity to monetary policy is one-third larger in fixed-rate economies. The effects extend to financial stability: tightening raises bank failure rates in fixed-rate systems while lowering them in variable-rate systems. The results provide a rationale for macroprudential and monetary policy coordination and for monetary policy gradualism.

JEL-codes: E43 E51 G21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-05
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