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A post-pandemic new normal for interest rates in emerging bond markets? Evidence from Chile

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  • Ceballos, Luis
  • Christensen, Jens H.E.
  • Romero, Damian

Abstract

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers intensely debated the extent of the decline in the so-called equilibrium or natural rate of interest. Given the recent sharp increase in interest rates, we revisit this question in an emerging bond market context and offer a Chilean perspective using a dynamic term structure finance model estimated directly on the prices of individual Chilean inflation-indexed bonds with adjustments for bond-specific liquidity risk and real term premia. Beyond documenting the existence of large and time-varying liquidity risk premia in the bond prices, we estimate that the equilibrium real rate in Chile fell about 2 and a half percentage points in the 2003-2022 period and has remained low since then with model projections only suggesting a gradual reversal in coming years. Instead, recent increases in real interest rates in Chile are driven by spikes in the liquidity and term premia of inflation-indexed bond prices.

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  • Ceballos, Luis & Christensen, Jens H.E. & Romero, Damian, 2025. "A post-pandemic new normal for interest rates in emerging bond markets? Evidence from Chile," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jimfin:v:150:y:2025:i:c:s0261560624002213
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jimonfin.2024.103234
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Affine arbitrage-free term structure model; Financial market frictions; Monetary policy; Rstar;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C32 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes; State Space Models
    • 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
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates

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