FinObservatory

Crisis atlas / NIC / 1979–2020

Nicaragua, 1979–2020

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.

CurrencySovereign debtBanking

Crisis years in this episode

Every distinct (year, type) event inside the 1979–2020 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. 1979
    Currencygmd, laeven_valencia, rr3 sources
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  2. 1980
    Sovereign debtgmd, laeven_valencia, rr3 sources
  3. 1981
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  4. 1982
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  5. 1983
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  6. 1984
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  7. 1985
    Currencygmd, laeven_valencia, rr3 sources
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  8. 1986
    Currencyrr1 source
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  9. 1987
    Bankingrr1 source
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  10. 1988
    Bankingrr1 source
    Currencyrr1 source
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  11. 1989
    Bankingrr1 source
    Currencyrr1 source
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  12. 1990
    Bankinggmd, laeven_valencia, rr3 sources
    Currencygmd, laeven_valencia, rr3 sources
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  13. 1991
    Bankinglaeven_valencia, rr2 sources
    Currencyrr1 source
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  14. 1992
    Bankinglaeven_valencia, rr2 sources
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  15. 1993
    Bankinglaeven_valencia, rr2 sources
    Currencyrr1 source
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  16. 1994
    Bankingrr1 source
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  17. 1995
    Bankingrr1 source
    Sovereign debtgmd, laeven_valencia, rr3 sources
  18. 1996
    Bankingrr1 source
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  19. 1997
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  20. 1998
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  21. 1999
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  22. 2000
    Bankinggmd, laeven_valencia, rr3 sources
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  23. 2001
    Bankinglaeven_valencia, rr2 sources
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  24. 2002
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  25. 2003
    Sovereign debtgmd, laeven_valencia, rr3 sources
  26. 2004
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  27. 2005
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  28. 2006
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  29. 2007
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  30. 2008
    Sovereign debtgmd, laeven_valencia, rr3 sources
  31. 2009
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  32. 2010
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  33. 2011
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  34. 2012
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  35. 2013
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  36. 2014
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  37. 2015
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  38. 2016
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  39. 2018
    Bankinglaeven_valencia1 source
  40. 2019
    Bankinglaeven_valencia1 source
  41. 2020
    Bankinglaeven_valencia1 source

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 1990–1993
Not reported
Fiscal cost, % of GDP
11.4%
Output loss, % of GDP
1993
Episode end year
Banking episode 2000–2001
13.6%
Fiscal cost, % of GDP
0.0%
Output loss, % of GDP
2001
Episode end year
Banking episode 2018–2020
Not reported
Fiscal cost, % of GDP
61.6%
Output loss, % of GDP
2020
Episode end year

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

Macro context, 19722027

Seven years either side of the episode. Each panel has its own scale; the crisis window is shaded. Only indicators with data for Nicaragua 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)
05k10k15k197219792025
Real GDP growth (% y/y)
-40-20020197219792025
Policy rate (%)
0510197219792025
Govt debt (% of GDP)
01k2k197219792025
Unemployment (%)
01020197219792025
Current account (% of GDP)
-60-40-20020197219792025

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.

Currency
  • Global Macro Database1979, 1985, 1990
  • Laeven-Valencia1979, 1985, 1990
  • Reinhart-Rogoff1979, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993
Sovereign debt
  • Reinhart-Rogoff1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
  • Global Macro Database1980, 1995, 2003, 2008
  • Laeven-Valencia1980, 1995, 2003, 2008
Banking
  • Reinhart-Rogoff1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001
  • Global Macro Database1990, 2000
  • Laeven-Valencia1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2000, 2001, 2018, 2019, 2020

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

2 interventions from the Metrick-Schmelzing banking-crisis database whose recorded year falls inside this episode window (1979–2020). 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.

NIC-1987Nicaragua
  1. 1987-1996LendingBBEL
NIC-2000Nicaragua
  1. Jan-2001GuaranteesAG

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.