Monetary Policy Effects: Evidence from the Portuguese Flow of Funds

Abstract

This paper uses a VAR approach to study the transmission of monetary policy shocks in Portugal, focusing in particular on the financial decisions of households, corporations (financial/non-financial), the government and the rest of the world. We confirm that, in many ways, households and firms react in a similar way as found in other countries, with evidence that the monetary policy shock has a contractionary effect on economic activity and increases the financing needs of households and non-financial corporations. We also find evidence that the financial sector plays an important role, supplying the necessary funds to these sectors. We do not find much evidence of a significant systematic behaviour of the government or the rest of the world.