Perhaps the most notable development in the area of monetary policy over the last decade is the growing popularity of inflation targeting. This regime is based to a great extent on communication and, more specifically, on using and communicating assessments of future inflation. The central...

We predict that GDP will grow 1.5 % in 2000 after falling 0.2 % in 1999. Sluggish growth in 2000 will be driven by domestic demand, namely fixed investment. Interest rates set by the CNB are now in a "parking zone". The two-week repo rate remains at 5.25 %. We do not expect any significant...

The paper offers a preliminary analysis of possible spontaneous euroization in the Czech economy. After a brief general introduction of the issue of currency substitution it specifically discusses two things. First, the transmission channels of potential spontaneous euroization, through which...

The paper deals with the relationship between monetary policy and asset prices. Besides surveying the general discussion, it attempts to extend it to recent developments in the New Member States of the EU (NMS), namely the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia (the EU4). After a brief...