Can the Central Bank Alleviate Fiscal Burdens?

Ricardo Reis

No 23014, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Central banks affect the resources available to fiscal authorities through the impact of their policies on the public debt, as well as through their income, their mix of assets, their liabilities, and their own solvency. This paper inspects the ability of the central bank to alleviate the fiscal burden by influencing different terms in the government resource constraint. It discusses five channels: (i) how inflation can (and cannot) lower the real burden of the public debt, (ii) how seignorage is generated and subject to what constraints, (iii) whether central bank liabilities should count as public debt, (iv) how central bank assets create income risk, and whether or not this threatens its solvency, and (v) how the central bank balance sheet can be used for fiscal redistributions. Overall, it concludes that the scope for the central bank to lower the fiscal burden is limited.

JEL-codes: E52 E58 E63 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-mac
Note: EFG ME PE
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Can the Central Bank Alleviate Fiscal Burdens? (2017)
Working Paper: Can the central bank alleviate fiscal burdens? (2017)
Working Paper: Can the Central Bank Alleviate Fiscal Burdens? (2016)
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