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Equilibrium foreign currency mortgages

Author

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  • Marcin Kolasa

    (Narodowy Bank Polski and SGH Warsaw School of Economics)

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel explanation for why foreign currency denominated loans to households have become so popular in some emerging economies. Our argument is based on what we call the debt limit channel, which arises when multi-period contracts are offered to financially constrained borrowers against collateral that is established on newly acquired assets. Whenever the difference between domestic and foreign interest rates is positive, this effect biases borrowers’ choices towards foreign currency, even if the exchange rate is known to depreciate as implied by the interest parity condition. We demonstrate in a simple macroeconomic framework that the debt limit channel is quantitatively important and can result in dollarization of debt also when borrowing in foreign currency is risky. We next use a small open economy DSGE model and show that, if first-order effects related to the debt limit channel are neutralized by appropriate adjustment in debt contracts, the equilibrium share of foreign currency loans is small.

Suggested Citation

  • Marcin Kolasa, 2018. "Equilibrium foreign currency mortgages," NBP Working Papers 293, Narodowy Bank Polski.
  • Handle: RePEc:nbp:nbpmis:293
    Note: This paper was written while the author was visiting the Columbia University. The research was financed by the National Science Center grant No. 2014/13/B/HS4/00212.
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Equilibrium foreign currency mortgages
      by Christian Zimmermann in NEP-DGE blog on 2018-10-26 17:52:41

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    Cited by:

    1. Marcin Kolasa, 2022. "Equilibrium foreign currency mortgages," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 45, pages 168-186, July.
    2. Brzoza-Brzezina, Michał & Kolasa, Marcin & Makarski, Krzysztof, 2017. "Monetary and macroprudential policy with foreign currency loans," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 54(PB), pages 352-372.
    3. Małgorzata Skibińska, 2018. "Transmission of monetary policy and exchange rate shocks under foreign currency lending," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(4), pages 506-525, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    foreign currency loans; mortgages; portfolio choice; general equilibrium models.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D58 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - Computable and Other Applied General Equilibrium Models
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • F41 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Open Economy Macroeconomics
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages

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