Initial Monetary Policy Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Inflation Targeting Economies

• Authors: Joanna Niedźwiedzińska

Title variants

PL

Reakcja polityki pieniężnej na wybuch pandemii COVID-19 w krajach stosujących strategię celu inflacyjnego

Abstracts

PL

Reakcja polityki pieniężnej na wybuch pandemii COVID-19 była pod wieloma względami wyjątkowa. Niniejszy artykuł bada kilka aspektów tej wyjątkowości wśród 28 banków centralnych stosujących strategię celu inflacyjnego, biorąc pod uwagę działania podejmowane przez wybrane władze monetarne na początku kryzysu związanego z pandemią. Analizowane banki centralne jednoznacznie uznały, że pandemia wymaga wyraźnego złagodzenia warunków monetarnych, co zaowocowało szybkim ogłoszeniem decyzji zwiększających ekspansywność polityki pieniężnej, podejmowanych często na nadzwyczajnych posiedzeniach i wykorzystujących możliwie szeroki zestaw instrumentów – bez nadmiernego wahania co do zastosowania również narzędzi niestandardowych. Jednym z kluczowych aspektów odpowiedzi banków centralnych na kryzys była również szybkość reakcji na szok. Okazało się, że średnio w gospodarkach rozwiniętych pierwsze decyzje łagodzące politykę pieniężną ogłoszono w ciągu miesiąca od wybuchu pandemii, podczas gdy w gospodarkach rozwijających się reakcja była dwukrotnie szybsza. Jak pokazało proste ćwiczenie ekonometryczne, różnica ta może być jednak w dużym stopniu wyjaśniona przez moment wykrycia pierwszych przypadków COVID-19 w danym kraju, rygorystycznością przyjętych ograniczeń antypandemicznych oraz potrzebą wsparcia płynnościowego gospodarek z mniej głębokim systemem finansowym. Znaczenie miały także zmienne dotyczące przestrzeni do wykorzystania niekonwencyjnych działań oraz odchylenie inflacji od celu inflacyjnego.

EN

The monetary policy response to COVID-19 in various economies around the world was in many ways exceptional. This paper investigates several aspects of this response among 28 inflation targeters by looking at actions undertaken by selected monetary authorities at the outset of the pandemic-induced crisis. Evidently, the reviewed central banks assessed the pandemic to be a clear-cut case for loosening monetary policy. They promptly announced expansionary decisions, often at extraordinary meetings, using a possibly broad set of measures, with not much hesitation before reaching for unconventional ones. One of the key aspects of the response was how quickly the authorities reacted to the shock. It turned out that, on average, advanced economies announced their initial policy actions within a month, whereas emerging market economies were twice as fast. As shown by a simple econometric exercise, this difference can to a great extent be explained by the time when the first COVID-19 cases were recorded in a country, the stringency of the adopted pandemic restrictions, and the need for liquidity provisions in economies with less deep financial systems. Of relevance were also variables related to having room for manoeuvre with respect to nonstandard measures and the deviation of inflation from the target.

Keywords

PL

proces decyzyjny; polityka pieniężna; banki centralne

EN

policy design; monetary policy; central banking

• Publisher: Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie. Kolegium Analiz Ekonomicznych
• Journal: Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics
• Year: 2021
• Volume: 308
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 125-165

Dates

published

2021

Contributors

author

Joanna Niedźwiedzińska

• Economic Analysis and Research Department, Narodowy Bank Polski, Warsaw, Poland

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Identifiers

DOI

10.33119/GN/144314

Biblioteka Nauki

2029073