This paper estimates the monetary transmission mechanism in Brazil as from the Real Plan using a cointegrated VAR model for real money stock, real output, inflation, short- and long-term interest rates. To provide a structural interpretation to the resulting dynamic system, we identify the cointegrating vectors through equilibrium relationships derived from macroeconomic theory. The empirical results evince that the real money stock is a stochastic common trend of the system and that there are three long-run relationships. The first corresponds to the IS curve, establishing a negative relation between the real output gap and the real interest rate. The second cointegrating vector determines the level of international reserves as a function of money velocity, inflation, short- and long-term interest rates. The third cointegrating relationship identifies the monetary reaction rule that the Brazilian Central Bank uses to set the target interest rate (SELIC). Finally, the short-run dynamics implied by the VECM representation and the results of the impulse-response analysis demonstrate that the model fits well the data.
