The report first looks at the conduct of monetary policy in real time over 3 distinct periods:
- 2017 to 2019 — Below target inflation
- 2020 — Initial pandemic response
- 2021 to 2022 — Above target inflation
This places monetary policy decisions in the context of the information available to policy-makers at the time. The report then evaluates monetary policy decision-making with the benefit of hindsight, that is, in light of new information that emerged as time progressed.
Key findings
- Our formulation and implementation of monetary policy over 2017 to 2022 was consistent with the objectives set out in the Remit. The Remit outlines the objectives the Monetary Policy Committee must use to pursue as set by the Minister of Finance.
- The last 5 years between 2017 to 2022 were uniquely challenging. In particular, COVID-19 was a highly disruptive shock. Monetary policy-makers were faced with widespread uncertainty.
- There were 9 areas identified for improvement. These lessons and areas of focus have fed into an extensive work programme which informs our policy design, our capability building and our research agenda.