This paper examines several key issues concerning the implications for monetary policy of the achievement of low inflation in OECD countries during the 1990s. In particular, the analysis considers whether there have been improvements in monetary policy transmission mechanisms that lower...

This paper addresses the issue of whether covariation of long-term interest rates across G10 countries has increased in recent years and whether, as a consequence, interest rates have become less subject to the influence of national monetary authorities and domestic fundamentals. A conceptual...

In this paper, the authors analyse the role of asset market prices in the formation of monetary policy with particular reference to equity markets, a concern for policy makers in the late 1990s. While asset prices have potentially valuable supplementary information for monetary policy makers,...

Reforms to modernise and strengthen the financial sector have continued in recent years. The cleaning-up of the stock of non-performing loans is largely completed and considerable progress has been made in improving commercial banks’ corporate governance structures and risk management systems....