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Implications of negative interest rates for the net interest margin and lending of euro area banks

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  • Klein, Melanie

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of low (but) positive and negative market interest rates on euro area banks' net interest margin (NIM) and its components, retail lending and retail deposit rates. Using two proprietary bank-level data sets, I find a positive impact of the level of the short-term rate on the NIM, which increases substantially at negative market rates. As low profitability could hamper the ability of banks to expand lending, I also investigate the impact of the NIM on new lending to the non-financial private sector. In general, the NIM is positively related to lending: When lending is less profitable, banks cut lending. However, at negative rates this effect vanishes. This finding suggests that banks adjusted their business practices when servicing new loans, thereby contributing to higher new lending in the euro area since 2014.

Suggested Citation

  • Klein, Melanie, 2020. "Implications of negative interest rates for the net interest margin and lending of euro area banks," Discussion Papers 10/2020, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:bubdps:102020
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    Cited by:

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    3. Davidson, Sharada Nia & Moccero, Diego Nicolas, 2024. "The nonlinear effects of banks’ vulnerability to capital depletion in euro area countries," Working Paper Series 2912, European Central Bank.
    4. Marcel Barmeier, 2022. "The new normal: bank lending and negative interest rates in Austria (Marcel Barmeier)," Working Papers 242, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank).
    5. Grochola, Nicolaus, 2023. "The influence of negative interest rates on life insurance companies," ICIR Working Paper Series 53/23, Goethe University Frankfurt, International Center for Insurance Regulation (ICIR).
    6. Joscha Beckmann & Klaus-Jürgen Gern & Nils Jannsen, 2022. "Should they stay or should they go? Negative interest rate policies under review," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 885-912, October.
    7. Andrejs Zlobins, 2022. "Into the Universe of Unconventional Monetary Policy: State-dependence, Interaction and Complementarities," Working Papers 2022/05, Latvijas Banka.
    8. Iwanicz-Drozdowska, Małgorzata & Rogowicz, Karol, 2022. "Does the choice of monetary policy tool matter for systemic risk? The curious case of negative interest rates," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    9. Luigi Bonatti & Andrea Fracasso & Roberto Tamborini, 2021. "Unconventional Policy Instruments and Transmission Channels:A State-Contingent Toolbox for the ECB," DEM Working Papers 2021/05, Department of Economics and Management.
    10. Avignone, Giuseppe & Girardone, Claudia & Pancaro, Cosimo & Pancotto, Livia & Reghezza, Alessio, 2022. "Making a virtue out of necessity: the effect of negative interest rates on bank cost efficiency," Working Paper Series 2718, European Central Bank.
    11. Andrejs Zlobins, 2020. "ZLB and Beyond: Real and Financial Effects of Low and Negative Interest Rates in the Euro Area," Working Papers 2020/06, Latvijas Banka.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    net interest margin; monetary policy; negative interest rates; bank profitability; lending;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • E43 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy

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