IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/onb/oenbmp/y2012i1b3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Euro Cash in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe

Author

Abstract

A considerable part of the euro banknotes issued since 2002 is in circulation in Central, Eastern and Southeastern European (CESEE) countries. This can be attributed to the fact that numerous economic agents resorted to currency substitution in a parallel safe haven currency during the crisis arising in the course of their countries’ transition to a market economy. On the other hand, euro cash holdings are related to some countries’ upcoming accession to the European Union, which will oblige them to adopt the euro. Although countries have caught up economically, the degree of euroization in CESEE countries has hardly receded over the past years. According to surveys conducted by the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB), economically significant amounts of euro cash are primarily held by households in Southeastern Europe, which – unlike households in Central Europe – use euro cash as a store of value and partially as a means of payment in addition to their respective local currency. Policies introduced in CESEE countries to stabilize economies after the outbreak of the financial and economic crisis in 2008 have ultimately increased the public’s confidence in the security of its savings deposits. The recent drop in euro cash holdings can therefore be attributed not only to the depletion of euro cash reserves during the crisis to finance necessary expenditures. It also seems to reflect a medium-term tendency to shift portfolios from (euro) cash to (euro) deposits.

Suggested Citation

  • Doris Ritzberger-Grünwald & Thomas Scheiber, 2012. "Euro Cash in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe," Monetary Policy & the Economy, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue 1, pages 41-55.
    • Handle: RePEc:onb:oenbmp:y:2012:i:1:b:3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.oenb.at/dam/jcr:355f662f-59e1-4f72-843c-0aff6144471b/mop_2012_q1_in_focus3_tcm16-246787.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mr. Fabian Valencia & Mr. Luc Laeven, 2008. "Systemic Banking Crises: A New Database," IMF Working Papers 2008/224, International Monetary Fund.
    2. Bartzsch, Nikolaus & Rösl, Gerhard & Seitz, Franz, 2011. "Der Auslandsumlauf deutscher Euro-Banknoten: Schätzung mit indirekten Ansätzen," Discussion Paper Series 1: Economic Studies 2011,21, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    3. Edgar L. Feige, 2003. "The Dynamics of Currency Substitution, Asset Substitution and De facto Dollarization and Euroization in Transition Countries," Macroeconomics 0302005, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Edgar L Feige, 2003. "Dynamics of Currency Substitution, Asset Substitution and De facto Dollarisation and Euroisation in Transition Countries," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 45(3), pages 358-383, September.
    5. Luigi Guiso & Paola Sapienza & Luigi Zingales, 2004. "The Role of Social Capital in Financial Development," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 526-556, June.
    6. Bartzsch, Nikolaus & Rösl, Gerhard & Seitz, Franz, 2011. "Foreign demand for euro banknotes issued in Germany: Estimation using direct approaches," Discussion Paper Series 1: Economic Studies 2011,20e, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    7. Edgar Feige & James Dean, 2002. "Dollarization and Euroization in Transition Countries: Currency Substitution, Asset Substitution, Network Externalities and Irreversibility," International Finance 0205003, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Helmut Stix, 2008. "Euroization: What Factors drive its Persistence?," Working Papers 140, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank).
    9. repec:onb:oenbwp:y:2008:i:1:b:1 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Sandra Dvorsky & Thomas Scheiber & Helmut Stix, 2010. "Real Effects of Crisis Have Reached CESEE Households: Euro Survey Shows Dampened Savings and Changes in Borrowing Behavior," Focus on European Economic Integration, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue 2, pages 79-90.
    11. Thorsten Beck & Martin Brown, 2011. "Which Households Use Banks? Evidence from the Transition Economies," Working Papers 2011-01, Swiss National Bank.
    12. Mudd Shannon & Pashev Konstantin & Valev Neven T, 2010. "The Effect of Loss Experiences in a Banking Crisis on Future Expectations and Behavior," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-21, November.
    13. Stix, Helmut, 2013. "Why do people save in cash? Distrust, memories of banking crises, weak institutions and dollarization," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(11), pages 4087-4106.
    14. Eduardo Levy Yeyati, 2006. "Financial dollarization: evaluating the consequences [‘A simple model of monetary policy and currency crises’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 21(45), pages 62-118.
    15. repec:onb:oenbwp:y::i:159:b:1 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Sandra Dvorsky & Thomas Scheiber & Helmut Stix, 2008. "Euroization in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe – First Results from the New OeNB Euro Survey," Focus on European Economic Integration, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue 1, pages 48-60.
    17. Helmut Stix, 2004. "Foreign Currency Demand since 2002 - Evidence from Five Central and Eastern European Countries," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 5(04), pages 19-24, December.
    18. repec:onb:oenbfi:y:2011:i:4:b:4 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Doris Ritzberger-Grünwald & Helmut Stix, 2007. "Are Euro Cash Holdings in Central and Eastern Europe Driven by Experience or Anticipation? Results from an OeNB Survey," Focus on European Economic Integration, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue 1, pages 77-100.
    20. Evan Kraft, 2003. "Monetary Policy under Dollarisation: The Case of Croatia," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 45(3), pages 256-277, September.
    21. Thomas Scheiber & Helmut Stix, 2009. "Euroization in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe – New Evidence On Its Extent and Some Evidence On Its Causes," Working Papers 159, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank).
    22. Helmut Stix, 2002. "The Euro in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE countries) : survey evidence from five countries," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 3(03), pages 33-38, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. repec:onb:oenbwp:y:2008:i:1:b:1 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Marc Bittner & Thomas Scheiber, 2022. "The use of euro cash as a store of value in CESEE," Monetary Policy & the Economy, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue Q1-Q2/22, pages 121-143.
    3. repec:onb:oenbfi:y:2011:i:4:b:4 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Thomas Scheiber & Helmut Stix, 2009. "Euroization in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe – New Evidence On Its Extent and Some Evidence On Its Causes," Working Papers 159, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank).
    5. Elisabeth Beckmann & Thomas Scheiber, 2012. "The Impact of Memories of High Inflation on Households’ Trust in Currencies," Focus on European Economic Integration, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue 4, pages 80-93.
    6. Stix, Helmut, 2013. "Why do people save in cash? Distrust, memories of banking crises, weak institutions and dollarization," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(11), pages 4087-4106.
    7. Helmut Stix, 2008. "Euroization: What Factors drive its Persistence?," Working Papers 140, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank).
    8. Bartzsch, Nikolaus & Rösl, Gerhard & Seitz, Franz, 2013. "Currency movements within and outside a currency union: The case of Germany and the euro area," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(4), pages 393-401.
    9. Helmut Stix, 2010. "The Euro as a Safe Haven Asset in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe," Chapters, in: Ewald Nowotny & Peter Mooslechner & Doris Ritzberger-Grünwald (ed.), The Euro and Economic Stability, chapter 10, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. repec:onb:oenbwp:y::i:159:b:1 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. repec:zbw:bofitp:2010_014 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Isakova, Asel, 2010. "Currency substitution in the economies of Central Asia : how much does it cost?," BOFIT Discussion Papers 14/2010, Bank of Finland, Institute for Economies in Transition.
    13. Isakova, Asel, 2010. "Currency substitution in the economies of Central Asia: how much does it cost?," BOFIT Discussion Papers 14/2010, Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT).
    14. Adeniji, Sesan, 2013. "Investigating the Relationship between Currency Substitution, Exchange Rate and Inflation in Nigeria: An Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Approach," MPRA Paper 52551, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 28 Dec 2013.
    15. Thomas Scheiber & Caroline Stern, 2016. "Currency substitution in CESEE: why do households prefer euro payments?," Focus on European Economic Integration, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue 4, pages 73-98.
    16. Doris Ritzberger-Grünwald & Helmut Stix, 2007. "Are Euro Cash Holdings in Central and Eastern Europe Driven by Experience or Anticipation? Results from an OeNB Survey," Focus on European Economic Integration, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue 1, pages 77-100.
    17. Lalouette, Laure & Zamora-Pérez, Alejandro & Rusu, Codruta & Bartzsch, Nikolaus & Politronacci, Emmanuelle & Delmas, Martial & Rua, António & Brandi, Marco & Naksi, Martti, 2021. "Foreign demand for euro banknotes," Occasional Paper Series 253, European Central Bank.
    18. Rösl, Gerhard & Seitz, Franz, 2023. "Uncertainty, politics, and crises: The case for cash," IMFS Working Paper Series 186, Goethe University Frankfurt, Institute for Monetary and Financial Stability (IMFS).
    19. Seater, John J., 2008. "The Demand for Currency Substitution," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 2, pages 1-30.
    20. Mathilde Maurel, 2004. "Financial Integration, Exchange Rate Regimes in CEECs, and joining the EMU : Just Do It," Working Papers hal-01065481, HAL.
    21. Marina Tkalec, 2012. "The Dynamics of Deposit Euroization in European Post-transition Countries: Evidence from Threshold VAR," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 62(3), pages 278-296, July.
    22. Tomislav Galac, 2012. "Global Crisis and Credit Euroisation in Croatia," Working Papers 33, The Croatian National Bank, Croatia.
    23. Bartzsch, Nikolaus & Rösl, Gerhard & Seitz, Franz, 2013. "Estimating the foreign circulation of banknotes," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 119(2), pages 165-167.
    24. Lee, Jongkyu & Lee, Suk, 2020. "Dollarization of the North Korean Economy: Causes and Effects," Dialogue on the North Korea Economy March 2020, Korea Development Institute (KDI).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    dollarization; euroization; currency substitution; household finance; transition crisis; survey data;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • E41 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Demand for Money
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G20 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - General
    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance
    • N14 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Europe: 1913-

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:onb:oenbmp:y:2012:i:1:b:3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Rita Glaser-Schwarz (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/oenbbat.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.