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International comparisons reveal that – even controlling for a host of explanatory factors – credit depth is exceptionally low in Mexico. Using panel data methods linking credit growth and fundamentals, this paper estimates a long-term gap between actual and expected credit of about 40 percent of GDP. Possible explanations include the history of banking crises, the large informal sector and an inefficient legal system. Using a disequilibrium regression approach, this paper also finds that supply factors are particularly important as determinants of credit in Mexico. Recent financial reforms address many of the supply constraints, but their success will depend on implementation. The main challenge going forward will be to support financial deepening, while limiting risks to financial stability.

This paper presents a detailed account of the rich set of macroprudential measures (MPPs) implemented in Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, and Serbia during their synchronized boom and bust cycles in 2002–12, and assesses their effectiveness in managing credit growth. Only strong MPPs helped contain domestic credit growth during the boom years, but circumvention via direct external borrowing offset their effectiveness to a large extent. MPPs taken during the bust had no discernible impact. The paper concludes that (i) proper calibration of MPPs is of the essence; (ii) only strong, broad-based MPPs can contain credit booms; (iii) econometric studies of macroprudential policy effectiveness should focus on concrete policy measures rather than on instruments use; and (iv) in so doing should allow for possible non-linear and state-contingent effects.