MacroScope

Central balance sheets across the industrialized world have increased rapidly in response to the financial crisis, as recently noted on this blog. In Europe, the balance sheet of the ECB and the 17 national central banks that share the euro currency has grown to around 3 trillion euros after the ECB injected more than a trillion into the market in 3-year loans and loosened its collateral standards.

At above 30 percent of gross domestic product, the ECB’s balance sheet has overtaken that of the Bank of Japan, which has been grappling with deflation for some two decades and started from a much higher level. It is also bigger than that of the U.S. Federal Reserve, which has aggressively responded to two financial crises in five years by tripling the size of its balance sheet to nearly $3 trillion today.

Historically, a central bank’s job is to maintain price stability and the value of its currency. The ECB’s non-standard measures have aimed to do just that as the euro zone debt crisis threatened the viability of the euro currency. But a growing and deteriorating balance sheet also comes at a price.

Julian Callow, head of international economics at Barclays explains:

The more the balance sheet rises, the more the ECB has exposure to the euro zone banking system, particularly of course the banking system in countries which are having difficulty in generating private sector financing.

Indeed, domestic banks in countries like Spain and Italy are deemed to have used cheap ECB financing to buy their country’s debt and benefit from a carry trade, by borrowing at one percent and investing in debt yielding between five and six percent currently. At the same time, the ECB repeatedly loosened the rules on what it accepts as collateral – the assets banks provide as insurance to borrow against the central bank.

Spain’s borrowing costs are likely to soar at an auction of 12- and 18-month T-bills after its 10-year yields were pushed through the totemic 6 percent level on Monday. The history of the euro zone debt crisis shows that once above 6 percent the spiral accelerates and before you know it you’re at 7 percent – the level generally seen as unsustainable for state financing.

Worryingly, Spain is dragging Italy’s yields up in its wake. But in Spain’s case, there are strong reasons for caution about imminent disaster. The government cannily used ECB-created benign market conditions in the first part of the year to shift nearly half its annual debt issuance needs already and the banks – which look like they will need recapitalization at some point – are well funded for now having also loaded up on the European Central Bank’s three-year liquidity splurge.

We also know Europe’s banks, too scared to invest elsewhere, are depositing 700-800 billion euros back at the ECB daily. If Madrid could engender a shift in confidence, some of that money could flow back into its bonds, particularly by Spanish banks.

One trillion euros is a lot of money. And as we have previously noted on this blog it did a lot for stock markets early this year but not much for the real economy.

But recent bond auctions in the euro zone suggest the impact of two rounds of cheap 3-year ECB funding on the region’s struggling bond market may also be fading.

Italian three-year borrowing costs surged more than a full percentage point at an auction to 3.89 percent – its highest since mid-January.

Central banks across the industrialized world responded aggressively to the global financial crisis that began in mid-2007 and in many ways remains with us today. Now, faced with sluggish recoveries, policymakers are reticent to embark on further unconventional monetary easing, fearing both internal criticism and political blowback. They are being forced to rely more on verbal guidance than actual stimulus to prevent markets from pricing in higher rates.

How do the world’s most prominent central banks stack up against each other? The Federal Reserve was extremely aggressive, more than tripling the size of its balance sheet from around $700-$800 billion pre-crisis to nearly 3 trillion today. Still, the ECB’s total asset holdings are actually larger than the Fed’s – it started from a higher base.

The Bank of England, for its part, went even deeper into uncharted territory, with its assets as a percentage of GDP surpassing the Fed’s. By the same measure, the ECB has overtaken the Bank of Japan, which has been grappling with deflation for some two decades and started from a much higher level.

All eyes on Italy. After paying sharply higher yields to sell one-year paper on Wednesday, it faces the altogether trickier task of selling up to five billion euros of three-year bonds. Yields are expected to jump by a full percentage point from a month ago but, as with yesterday, demand will be there and the paper should get away.

German Bunds have opened flat and European stocks are set to edge up so the recent rush for the exits has at least temporarily abated.

After yesterday’s auction result, Italian officials were  quick to point the finger at “external factors” – code for Spain. That prompted Spain’s Mariano Rajoy to hit back, demanding European leaders choose their language with more care. The message from Madrid is that the government is doing everything asked of it on the austerity and structural reform front and needs stronger backing from its peers. It’s hard to argue with that. Italian premier Mario Monti has said similar about Italy. The difference is that he did not renege on an agreed deficit target without consulting Brussels.

The trillion euro sugar rush that made Q1 the best start to the year for global stocks in more than a decade has already worn off, but what is most striking is not how quickly it ended. It’s how little the economic outlook has changed.

Cheap central bank money mainly seems to have boosted stocks and the optimism of stock market forecasters, who generally are the most bullish of the lot with or without wads of cheap money.

An analysis of Reuters Polls over the past three months, starting just before the European Central Bank made the first of two gargantuan injections of cheap three-year money into the banking system, reveals what many have fretted might happen.

Spanish 10-year bond yields are within a whisker of breaking above six percent for the first time since December and are dragging Italy’s up with them. The balmy days of first quarter calm are well and truly over. “Markets step up the attack”, El Pais blares from its front page this morning.

Spanish risk premiums have leapt since Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy defied Europe by unilaterally easing Madrid’s 2012 deficit target and investors seem to have lost faith again as the impact of the ECB’s massive liquidity injection begins to fade.

BUT, and there is a but, there are good reasons to believe Spain will not fall over in the way Greece and others have. One silver lining for Madrid is that it has taken advantage of the benign market conditions early in the year to clear almost half its 2012 debt issuance needs so rising secondary market yields may be less damaging than they were last year.
 
As usual, confidence is key. The ECB three-year money has not vanished. Look at the 800 billion or so euros deposited back at the ECB by banks every day and it’s clear that if sentiment improved some of that money could be put to use once again to buy Spanish and Italian bonds, though there’s no sign of that for now.
 
Markets are resolutely “risk off” although weak U.S. jobs data last week have a part to play here. European stock futures are flagging a further 0.5 percent loss following a 2.5 percent tumble on Tuesday. The most reliable euro zone barometer – the Bund future – has edged lower at the open, probably in anticipation of Germany auctioning a new 10-year bond later. Given the climate, it should be snapped up despite yields already at record lows: While Spain faces a 6 percent price to borrow for 10 years, Germany can do so for 1.6 percent.

A new quarter dawns and although a holiday-shortened week isn’t likely to see dramatic investment decisions taken, the burning question is whether the strong ECB-fuelled rallies of the first three months of the year can continue. The consensus so far is yes, but at a more modest pace.

Markets will pick through the details of the Spanish budget and the euro zone’s decision on increasing the capacity of its firewall. Implementation risk in the first case, and shallow ambition in the second leaves scope for disappointment.

The standout events of the week are the policy meetings of the European Central Bank and Bank of England. No policy changes will result but within the former at least, there is growing internal debate about the long-term consequences of creating a trillion euros of three-year money which no doubt prevented a credit crunch, but according to monetarist theory at least, will inevitably fuel future inflation. There is also the conundrum of creating banks forever reliant on central bank support rather than being able to stand on their own two feet and start lending to each other again.

The spotlight swings firmly on to Italy where Prime Minister Mario Monti is meeting trade unions and employers in an attempt to push through labour reforms which he hopes will galvanise the economy. The largest union has said a deal is “impossible” by an end-of-week deadline despite signs the government is watering down the  measures.

This is big stuff. A number of key factors have helped move the euro zone debt crisis on from critical to chronic; top of the list was the ECB’s creation of a trillion euros of three-year money but not far behind came the elevation of Monti and the hope invested in him that he can turn the Italian economy around. If the euro zone’s fourth largest economy fell over, the currency bloc really would be on the skids. He must convince markets – which remain becalmed for now – that he can raise Italy’s trend growth rate if its 120 percent of GDP debt pile is ever to be eaten into.

If faith in the technocrat premier wanes, it could have a significant effect on currently benign investor sentiment towards the euro zone.

Economists seeking insight into the kind of analysis the European Central Bank is using to support its policy decisions can get hints from its monthly bulletin. Not for everyone, but here’s what is in March’s edition:

* The effective exchange rates of the euro – revised trade weights in the light of global economic integration

* Recent developments in the financial account of the euro area balance of payments