Bank Liquidity, Interbank Markets, and Monetary Policy - Federal Reserve Bank of New York

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Staff Reports

Bank Liquidity, Interbank Markets, and Monetary Policy

May 2009 Number 371
Revised: September 2009

JEL classification: G21, E43, E52, E58

Authors: Xavier Freixas, Antoine Martin, and David Skeie

A major lesson of the recent financial crisis is that the interbank lending market is crucial for banks that face uncertainty regarding their liquidity needs. This paper examines the efficiency of the interbank lending market in allocating funds and the optimal policy of a central bank in response to liquidity shocks. We show that, when confronted with a distributional liquidity-shock crisis that causes a large disparity in the liquidity held by different banks, a central bank should lower the interbank rate. This view implies that the traditional separation between prudential regulation and monetary policy should be rethought. In addition, we show that, during an aggregate liquidity crisis, central banks should manage the aggregate volume of liquidity. Therefore, two different instruments—interest rates and liquidity injection—are required to cope with the two different types of liquidity shocks. Finally, we show that failure to cut interest rates during a crisis erodes financial stability by increasing the probability of bank runs.

Available only in PDF pdf

39 pages / 389 kb

For a published version of this report, see Xavier Freixas, Antoine Martin, and David Skeie, "Bank Liquidity, Interbank Markets, and Monetary Policy," Review of Financial Studies 24, no. 8 (August 2011): 2656-92.

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