COVID-19 Debt Relief in the EU

Main author: Becchetti, Leonardo
Other authors: Scaramozzino, Pasquale
Format: Journal Article           
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id eprints-36182
recordtype eprints
institution SOAS, University of London
collection SOAS Research Online
language English
language_search English
topic HJ Public Finance
description The COVID-19 pandemic has been a global shock with dramatic consequences on debts of the governments which were called to alleviate the economic and social impact of the crisis on firms and households. We explore conditions for the feasibility of (COVID-19 generated) government debt relief concerning bonds held by the ECB, which can be justified by the exogenous characteristics of the shock. We outline several technically and economically feasible ways (involving debt “freezing”, debt rescheduling or outright debt cancellation) for achieving this goal and discuss their consequences on moral hazard and on the European Central Bank balance sheets. We also examine their potential impact on ECB’s independence, reputation and, ultimately, on inflation and exchange rates. We further discuss the distributive concerns which arise for a CB operating in a Union with several sovereign member states as in the Eurozone.
format Journal Article
author Becchetti, Leonardo
author_facet Becchetti, Leonardo
Scaramozzino, Pasquale
authorStr Becchetti, Leonardo
author_letter Becchetti, Leonardo
author2 Scaramozzino, Pasquale
author2Str Scaramozzino, Pasquale
title COVID-19 Debt Relief in the EU
publisher Centro Interdisciplinare Scienze per la Pace, Università di Pisa
publishDate 2021
url https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/36182/