DP2582 Why Adopt Transparency? The Publication of Central Bank Forecasts
Author(s): | Petra M Geraats |
Publication Date: | October 2000 |
Keyword(s): | Monetary Policy, Transparency |
JEL(s): | E52, E58 |
Programme Areas: | International Macroeconomics |
Link to this Page: | cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=2582 |
Recently, several central banks have abandoned the usual secrecy in monetary policy and become very transparent. This paper provides an explanation for this puzzling fact, focusing on the disclosure of central bank forecasts. It shows that transparency reduces the inflationary bias and gives the central bank greater flexibility to respond to shocks in the economy. Furthermore, it makes it easier for a central bank to build a reputation. To achieve these benefits of transparency it is generally necessary to publish the conditional central bank forecasts for both inflation and output.