A Central Fiscal Stabilization Capacity for the Euro Area

Download or read book A Central Fiscal Stabilization Capacity for the Euro Area written by Mr.Nathaniel G Arnold and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2018-03-26 with total page 57 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This note outlines a concrete proposal for a euro area central fiscal capacity (CFC) that could help smooth both country-specific and common shocks. Specifically, it proposes a macroeconomic stabilization fund financed by annual contributions from countries that are used to build up assets in good times and make transfers to countries in bad times, as well as a borrowing capacity in case an exceptionally large shock exhausts the fund’s assets. To address moral hazard risks, transfers from the CFC—beyond a country’s own net contributions—would be conditional on compliance with the EU fiscal rules. The note also discusses several features aimed at avoiding permanent transfers between countries and making the CFC function as automatically as possible—to limit the scope for disputes over its operation—both of which are important points to make it politically acceptable.