This paper analyses the level of inequality in Spain and how it evolved over the course of the past crisis and the early stages of the current recovery. To this end, it first introduces the various dimensions of wage, income, consumption and wealth inequality, and studies how they have developed. The analysis shows less wage dispersion in Spain than in other comparable economies, even after the crisis years, while the surge in unemployment during the period resulted in a high level of inequality in per capita income. The level of inequality in Spain is more moderate when total gross household income is analysed, decreasing during the crisis as a result of pensions developing more favourably than other sources of income, in conjunction with young people delaying setting up home. Inequality in per capita consumption rose during the crisis, particularly as a result of a decrease in expenditure on consumer durables by low-income households. Wealth inequality exceeds income inequality and increased during the downturn as a result of financial assets outperforming real assets. Nevertheless, Spain's wealth inequality is moderate by international standards, as ownership of real assets is more widespread than in other countries. The way inequality has evolved during the early stages of the current economic recovery shows that falling unemployment has enabled a reduction in wage income inequality, as well as in per capita income inequality, albeit to a lesser extent. We are indebted to all seminar participants at the Banco de España in particular to Óscar Arce and Pablo Hernández de Cos. We are very grateful to Virginia Sánchez Marcos and Manuel Bagues for their work in improving the paper during the editorial process. We also thank the assistance of Sandra Laza, Ana Valentina Regil, Maria Beiro and the translation and editing unit at the Banco de España. The opinions and analyses are the responsibility of the authors and, therefore, do not necessarily coincide with those of the Banco de España or the Eurosystem.

A stronger macroeconomic position when the financial crisis erupted allowed Latin American economies to mitigate its impact through fiscal expansions, temporarily reversing the characteristic procyclical behaviour of fiscal policy. At the same time, in the last two decades fiscal rules have been extensively adopted in the region. This paper analyses the stabilising role of discretionary fiscal policy over time, and the influence of fiscal financing conditions and of fiscal rules in said behaviour for a sample of eight Latin American economies. The analysis shows three main results: i) fiscal policies became countercyclical during the crisis, but they have turned procyclical again in recent years; ii) financing conditions are the key driver of fiscal procyclicality, while iii) fiscal rules tend to neutralise it. la Política Fiscal y el ciclo económico en américa latina: el PaPel de las condiciones Financieras y las reglas Fiscales resumen La crisis financiera fue enfrentada por América Latina con una posición macroeconómica más sólida, lo que permitió mitigar su impacto con una expansión fiscal, en contraste con la tradicional prociclicidad de las políticas fiscales. Asimismo, en las últimas dos décadas ha proliferado el establecimiento de reglas fiscales en la región. Este artículo analiza el papel estabilizador de la política fiscal discrecional, y la influencia de las condiciones financieras y las reglas fiscales en tal comportamiento para ocho países de América Latina. El análisis obtiene tres principales resultados: i) la política fiscal fue contracíclica durante la crisis, y volvió a ser procíclica posteriormente; ii) las condiciones financieras determinan la prociclicidad de la política fiscal, mientras que iii) las reglas fiscales tienden a neutralizarla. JEL Classification H3 G1 Keywords procyclical fiscal policy fiscal rules financing conditions Latin America Clasificación JEL H3 G1 Palabras claves política fiscal procíclica reglas fiscales condiciones financieras América Latina * Alberola works at Bank for International Settlements; Kataryniuk: Bank of Spain; Melguizo and Orozco: OECD Development Centre. We wish to thank seminar participants at the Bank of Spain, the LACEA-LAMES 2014 Annual Meeting, Fedesarrollo, the IMF Fiscal Affairs and Western Hemisphere departments, and the IDB Research Department for their useful comments, and in particular, the insights and conversations with Teresa Ter-Minassian and Gustavo Garcia.

The Working Paper Series seeks to disseminate original research in economics and fi nance. All papers have been anonymously refereed. By publishing these papers, the Banco de España aims to contribute to economic analysis and, in particular, to knowledge of the Spanish economy and its international environment. The opinions and analyses in the Working Paper Series are the responsibility of the authors and, therefore, do not necessarily coincide with those of the Banco de España or the Eurosystem. The Banco de España disseminates its main reports and most of its publications via the Internet at the following website: http://www.bde.es. Reproduction for educational and non-commercial purposes is permitted provided that the source is acknowledged.

The Working Paper Series seeks to disseminate original research in economics and fi nance. All papers have been anonymously refereed. By publishing these papers, the Banco de España aims to contribute to economic analysis and, in particular, to knowledge of the Spanish economy and its international environment.The opinions and analyses in the Working Paper Series are the responsibility of the authors and, therefore, do not necessarily coincide with those of the Banco de España or the Eurosystem.The Banco de España disseminates its main reports and most of its publications via the Internet at the following website: http://www.bde.es.Reproduction for educational and non-commercial purposes is permitted provided that the source is acknowledged.

The last review of the ECB's monetary policy strategy in 2003 followed a period of predominantly upside risks to price stability. Experience following the 2008 financial crisis has focused renewed attention on the question of how monetary and fiscal policy should best interact, in particular in an environment of structurally low interest rates and persistent downside risks to price stability. This debate has been further intensified by the economic impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In the euro area, the unique architecture of a monetary union consisting of sovereign Member States, with cross-country heterogeneities and weaknesses in its overall construction, poses important challenges.12 Tax policy may also substitute interest rate policy to change real interest rates (the cost of current consumption in terms of future consumption), even in the case of balanced budgets. See Feldstein (2002) and Correia et al. (2013).