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Assume that in an economy where central bank only lends against treasury bills, there are only two banks and a central bank and the balance
Assume that in an economy where central bank only lends against treasury bills, there are only two banks and a central bank and the balance sheets of Bank A & Bank B look like below.
T-accounts previous to the exercise
Bank A
Assets | Liabilities + Equity |
Reserves 10 Loans 50 Lending to Bank B 40 Treasury Bills 40 Other securities 20 | Deposits 100 Other liabilities 50 Capital 10 |
Total Assets = 160 | Liabilities + Equity = 160 |
Bank B
Assets | Liabilities + Equity |
Reserves 10 Loans 130 Treasury Bills 40 Other securities 20 | Deposits 100 Borrowing from Bank A 40 Other liabilities 50 Capital 10 |
Total Assets = 200 | Liabilities + Equity = 200 |
- Now assume that following a panic in the financial system, Bank A stops lending to Bank B in the interbank markets. What will Bank B have to do if the central bank does not act as a lender of last resort? How would the balance sheets look like if the central bank lends to Bank B.
- Now assume that after Bank A gets back its interbank loan from Bank B, the government immediately implements a spending policy and consumers receive a tax rebate worth 60, which is distributed equally between the two banks. How would this affect the balance sheets?
- As a response to its liquidity problems, assume that Bank B borrows $100 from a US bank (assume 1=$2).Could it use these dollars as reserves? How?
- Using the initial balance sheets given in the question, assume this time that following a crisis, Bank B's customers cannot pay back their loans and loan default ratios reach 25%. What does Bank B's balance sheet look like in this case? How can the central bank/government solve the problem now?
- Using the same initial balance sheets given in the question, now assume instead that following the crisis, panic leads to a fire sale of securities in the markets and an increase in bond interest rates, thus leading to a 10% drop in treasury bill prices and 60% drop in securities prices. What does bank B's balance sheet look like now? Can the central bank do anything about this?
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