摘要
Corresponding to the pandemic COVID-19,both FED and ECB were committed to using their full range of tools,such as the helicopter money policy and a new quantitative easing programme to support the economy in this challenging time.The goal of this study is to explore the impact of ECB’s and FED’s COVID-19 Quantitative Easing(QE)announcements on exchange rates.Using an event study with daily data from 01/10/2019 to 02/05/2020,it investigates the impact of these“Odyssean shocks”on EUR/USD,BTC/EUR,and BTC/USD.The empirical results show an unexpected behavior of exchange rates in response to monetary policy actions.More specifically,the ECB’s announcement led to appreciation of the Euro against the Dollar.On the other hand,the FED’s announcement leads to depreciation of the Euro.The virtual exchange rates of Bitcoin do not seem to be affected by the announcements of the ECB and the FED,confirming the role of Bitcoin as a decentralised currency and independent of Central Banks and governments.The conclusions of the study are useful for investors and policy makers,as the unforeseen COVID-19 crisis has disturbed and modified investor behavior.
