Book Description

The establishment of an operationally independent central bank was the first major policy decision by the Chancellor in 1997. He set out the framework whereby he would set the objectives for monetary policy, in the form of an inflation target, but the Bank of England and the nine-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) would have the operational responsibility. This report is divided into four sections. The first assesses the performance of the MPC, whilst the second examines the components of the broader monetary framework. The third part looks at how the Treasury Committee has met its own objectives and the last section looks at the wider aspects of economic policy. They conclude that the record of the MPC is impressive and it has established a high level of credibility but there is a worry that there is a bias to undershooting the inflation target.