Working Paper

Transparency of Monetary Policy: Theory and Practice

Petra Geraats
CESifo, Munich, 2005

CESifo Working Paper No. 1597

Transparency has become one of the main features of monetary policymaking during the last decade. This paper establishes some stylized facts. In addition, it provides a systematic overview of the practice of monetary policy transparency around the world. It shows much diversity in information disclosure, even for central banks with the same monetary policy framework, including inflation targeting. Nevertheless, the paper finds significant differences in transparency across monetary policy frameworks. The empirical findings are explained using key insights distilled from the theoretical literature. Thus, this paper aims to bridge the gap between the theory and practice of monetary policy transparency.

CESifo Category
Monetary Policy and International Finance
Keywords: transparency, monetary policy, central bank communication
JEL Classification: E580, D820