The Transparency and Credibility of the European Central Bank

The European Central Bank (ECB) ranks highly on the author's proposed central bank disclosure inidcator, measuring activities of central banks to enhance the public's understanding of their policies. Nevertheless, the survey evidence offered in this contribution suggests that private-sector economists do not consider the ECB transparent. The authors argue that this may be caused by the quality of the information provided by the ECB. In addition, the way intermediaries report on the ECB may influence the public's perceptions. The ECB also does not rank highly in terms of credibility; still, most ECB policy decisions analysed in this contribution were found to be in line with financial markets' expectations