Reserve requirements, liquidity risk, and bank lending behavior

Abstract

Although reserve requirements (RR) have been used in emerging markets to smooth credit cycles, the transmission mechanism remains blurry. Using bank-level data, we unveil the interaction of RR with bank lending. We identify a new channel that works through a decline in banks' liquid assets and loan supply due to an increase in RR. Quantitative tightening through RR raises the short-term funding needs of the banking system, which is met by collateralized central bank lending, thus depleting banks' unencumbered liquid assets. Our results suggest that such a shift in bank liquidity is associated with a significant change in lending.