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The Greek financial crisis: growing imbalances and sovereign spreads

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  • Heather D. Gibson
  • Stephan G. Hall
  • George S. Tavlas

Abstract

We discuss the origins of the Greek financial crisis as manifested in the growing fiscal and current-account deficits since euro-area entry in 2001. We then provide an investigation of spreads on Greek relative to German long-term government debt. Using monthly data over the period 2000 to 2010, we estimate a cointegrating relationship between spreads and their long-term fundamental determinants, and compare the spreads predicted by this estimated relationship with actual spreads. We find periods of both undershooting and overshooting of spreads compared to what is predicted by the economic fundamentals.

Suggested Citation

  • Heather D. Gibson & Stephan G. Hall & George S. Tavlas, 2011. "The Greek financial crisis: growing imbalances and sovereign spreads," Discussion Papers in Economics 11/25, Division of Economics, School of Business, University of Leicester.
    • Handle: RePEc:lec:leecon:11/25
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Greek financial crisis; sovereign spreads;

    JEL classification:

    • E63 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Comparative or Joint Analysis of Fiscal and Monetary Policy; Stabilization; Treasury Policy
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates

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