While net exports were quite significant during 2010–2013 and again during 2015 (the first full year of the ECB’s accommodative monetary strategy), the accounting contribution of net exports was marginally negative during 2016. 3 / 10  BIS central bankers' speeches  Third, the extent and composition of international financial linkages matter for external spillovers that operate through financial channels.
Drawing on my joint research with Gian Maria MilesiFerretti of the International Monetary Fund, Figure 5 shows the expansion in the size of international balance sheets (relative to world GDP) since 1990.