Central Bank Reviews
What lessons can central banks learn from past reviews to improve future policy design and governance?
As part of central bank accountability, many central banks in developed countries have undergone reviews, from the Svensson Review of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, in 2001, to the Bernanke Review of the Bank of England in 2024. In some cases, central banks' legislation requires regular review. This paper analyzes twenty reviews of nine central banks over the past three decades. It outlines the role of independence in contributing to lower inflation, and draws together emerging themes from the reviews considered collectively, including independence, mandate evaluation, framework evaluation, governance structure, additional monetary policy tools, enabling decision-making under uncertainty, and interaction with other policy arms.
