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Do Interest-growth Differentials Affect Fiscal Policy? Evidence for Advanced Economies

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This paper analyses the link between discretionary fiscal policy and interest-growth differentials (r-g). Panel regressions based on a dataset for 20 advanced countries over the years 1990-2019 reveal no evidence of a systematic linear relationship between fiscal policy and r-g. However, more unfavourable r-g differentials are linked more strongly to a tighter fiscal stance when public-debt-to-GDP ratios are higher – but only in the euro area, not in advanced stand-alone countries issuing government debt in their own currency.

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  • Philipp Heimberger, 2023. "Do Interest-growth Differentials Affect Fiscal Policy? Evidence for Advanced Economies," wiiw Working Papers 230, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    • Handle: RePEc:wii:wpaper:230
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Public debt; fiscal deficits; interest-growth differentials; fiscal policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E43 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • F33 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Monetary Arrangements and Institutions

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