FinObservatory

Crisis atlas / CHL / 1931–1990

Chile, 1931–1990

One crisis episode: distinct crisis years merged across gaps of up to two non-crisis years. Types, source agreement, and macro context are drawn from the union of five primary chronologies.

BankingSovereign debtCurrency

Crisis years in this episode

Every distinct (year, type) event inside the 1931–1990 window, with the chronologies flagging it and the count of agreeing sources. Start-year sources (GMD, JST) mark only the first year, so agreement falls in the continuation years.

  1. 1931
    Bankinggmd1 source
    Sovereign debtgmd, rr2 sources
  2. 1932
    Currencygmd, rr2 sources
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  3. 1933
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  4. 1934
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  5. 1935
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  6. 1936
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  7. 1937
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  8. 1938
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  9. 1939
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  10. 1940
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  11. 1941
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  12. 1942
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  13. 1943
    Currencygmd, rr2 sources
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  14. 1944
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  15. 1945
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  16. 1946
    Currencyrr1 source
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  17. 1947
    Currencyrr1 source
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  18. 1948
    Currencyrr1 source
  19. 1949
    Currencyrr1 source
  20. 1951
    Currencygmd, rr2 sources
  21. 1952
    Currencyrr1 source
  22. 1953
    Currencyrr1 source
  23. 1954
    Currencyrr1 source
  24. 1955
    Currencyrr1 source
  25. 1957
    Currencygmd, rr2 sources
  26. 1958
    Currencyrr1 source
  27. 1960
    Currencyrr1 source
  28. 1961
    Sovereign debtgmd, rr2 sources
  29. 1962
    Currencygmd, rr2 sources
  30. 1963
    Currencyrr1 source
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  31. 1964
    Currencyrr1 source
  32. 1965
    Currencyrr1 source
    Sovereign debtgmd, rr2 sources
  33. 1967
    Currencygmd, rr2 sources
  34. 1969
    Currencyrr1 source
  35. 1970
    Currencyrr1 source
  36. 1971
    Currencyrr1 source
  37. 1972
    Currencygmd, laeven_valencia, rr3 sources
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  38. 1973
    Currencyrr1 source
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  39. 1974
    Currencyrr1 source
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  40. 1975
    Currencyrr1 source
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  41. 1976
    Bankinggmd, laeven_valencia, rr3 sources
    Currencyrr1 source
  42. 1977
    Bankingrr1 source
    Currencyrr1 source
  43. 1978
    Currencyrr1 source
  44. 1979
    Currencyrr1 source
  45. 1981
    Bankinglaeven_valencia, rr2 sources
  46. 1982
    Bankinggmd, laeven_valencia, rr3 sources
    Currencygmd, laeven_valencia, rr3 sources
  47. 1983
    Bankinglaeven_valencia, rr2 sources
    Currencyrr1 source
    Sovereign debtgmd, laeven_valencia, rr3 sources
  48. 1984
    Bankinglaeven_valencia, rr2 sources
    Currencyrr1 source
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  49. 1985
    Bankinglaeven_valencia1 source
    Currencyrr1 source
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  50. 1986
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  51. 1987
    Currencyrr1 source
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  52. 1988
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  53. 1989
    Currencyrr1 source
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  54. 1990
    Sovereign debtgmd, laeven_valencia, rr3 sources

Source: Global Macro Database 2026_06 (Müller, Xu, Lehbib & Chen 2025) | Jordà-Schularick-Taylor Macrohistory R6 | Laeven & Valencia (2020, 2026) | Reinhart-Rogoff via HBS BFFS | ECB/ESRB Financial Crises Database Methodology

Laeven-Valencia banking-crisis detail

Episode-level fiscal cost and output loss from the systemic banking crises database. Fiscal cost is the gross outlay of banking-sector rescues; output loss is the cumulative deviation of real GDP from its pre-crisis trend, both as a percent of GDP.

Banking episode 1976
Not reported
Fiscal cost, % of GDP
19.9%
Output loss, % of GDP
1976
Episode end year
Banking episode 1981–1985
42.9%
Fiscal cost, % of GDP
8.6%
Output loss, % of GDP
1985
Episode end year

Source: Laeven & Valencia (2026), IMF WP/26/94, Systemic Banking Crises Database 1970-2025 Methodology

Macro context, 1924–1997

Seven years either side of the episode. Each panel has its own scale; the crisis window is shaded. Only indicators with data for Chile in this window are shown. Bank credit growth (year over year in total loans) is available for the 18 Jordà-Schularick-Taylor advanced economies.

Inflation (% y/y)
-2000200400600192419311997
Real GDP growth (% y/y)
-40-2002040192419311997
Policy rate (%)
01020192419311997
Govt debt (% of GDP)
0100200300192419311997
Unemployment (%)
0102030192419311997
Current account (% of GDP)
-20-10010192419311997

Source: Global Macro Database 2026_06 (Müller, Xu, Lehbib & Chen 2025) | Jordà-Schularick-Taylor Macrohistory R6 (credit) Real GDP growth is derived as the year-over-year change in real GDP; current account and government debt are percent of GDP; policy rate is the central-bank rate; bank credit growth is the year-over-year change in JST total loans. Methodology

How each source dates this episode

The chronologies disagree on start years and durations. This table is generated from the event rows, not curated: it lists, per crisis type, which source flags which years inside the window.

Banking
  • Global Macro Database1931, 1976, 1982
  • Laeven-Valencia1976, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985
  • Reinhart-Rogoff1976, 1977, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984
Sovereign debt
  • Global Macro Database1931, 1961, 1965, 1983, 1990
  • Reinhart-Rogoff1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990
  • Laeven-Valencia1983, 1990
Currency
  • Global Macro Database1932, 1943, 1951, 1957, 1962, 1967, 1972, 1982
  • Reinhart-Rogoff1932, 1943, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1989
  • Laeven-Valencia1972, 1982

Source: Global Macro Database 2026_06 (Müller, Xu, Lehbib & Chen 2025) | Jordà-Schularick-Taylor Macrohistory R6 | Laeven & Valencia (2020, 2026) | Reinhart-Rogoff via HBS BFFS | ECB/ESRB Financial Crises Database Methodology

Documented policy responses

7 interventions from the Metrick-Schmelzing banking-crisis database whose recorded year falls inside this episode window (1931–1990). Each row is one documented government or central-bank action, tagged with the database’s own intervention categories and short code, under the crisis code it assigns. Matching is exact: same country, intervention year inside the window. The database’s global-crisis rows (no country) are never matched here.

CHL-1931Chile
  1. 1931No interventionNO/I
CHL-1970Chile
  1. 1970-1972Capital injectionsBBCI
CHL-1976Chile
  1. Jan-1976GuaranteesASG
CHL-1981Chile
  1. Nov-1981Capital injectionsBBCI
  2. Nov-1981GuaranteesAG
  3. Nov-1981GuaranteesOLG
  4. Jan-1983Capital injectionsBBCI

Source: Metrick-Schmelzing Banking-Crisis Interventions Database (Yale Program on Financial Stability) Cite as: Metrick, Andrew, and Paul Schmelzing, "Banking-Crisis Interventions Across Time and Space," working paper, 2024 (dataset consulted 2026-07-10). License: Creative Commons attribution. Methodology

Policy-response case studies (external)

For qualitative accounts of how authorities intervened in systemic crises, see the Yale Program on Financial Stability New Bagehot Project, a library of financial-crisis intervention case studies. It is a separate qualitative resource; no specific case is asserted to match this episode.