The currency dimension of the bank lending channel in international monetary transmission

Abstract We investigate how the use of a currency transmits monetary policy changes in the global banking system. We use a newly available rarely accessed dataset on the bilateral cross-border lending flows of 27 BIS-reporting lending banking systems to borrowers in 51 countries, broken down by currency denomination (USD, EUR and JPY). We have three main findings. First, we identify a currency dimension of the international bank lending channel: monetary changes in a currency significantly affect cross-border lending flows in that currency, even when neither the lending banking system nor the target country uses that currency as their own. Second, this transmission works mainly through lending to non-banks. Third, the currency dimension of the bank lending channel works similarly across the three currencies, suggesting that the USD may not be unique in this respect.