About

Over recent decades, many central banks of emerging economies have been adopting inflation-targeting (IT) regimes to steer inflation towards a particular level, reduce its volatility, and ensure macroeconomic stability, especially in times of adverse shocks. The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic created new challenges for monetary policy, forcing central banks to rethink their existing policy frameworks and tools.
The workshop, hosted online by the National Bank of Ukraine on 26 November 2021, brought together over 170 economists, experts, and policymakers from central banks, academia, think tanks, and international financial institutions to discuss the experience of IT in emerging markets and draw lessons for future challenges.


Five Key Takeaways

  • Inflation targeting proved to be an effective monetary framework for delivering macroeconomic stability in the emerging markets
  • Adherence to price stability is crucial for anchoring inflation expectations and gaining credibility
  • Unlike in previous crises, emerging markets were able to respond to COVID-19 pandemic countercyclically
  • Central banks cannot afford to lose the credibility they have earned and ignore the current surge in inflation
  • Inflation targeting is not a panacea – structural reforms, fiscal discipline, and central bank independence are also essential.

Agenda

11/26/2021

12:45 - 13:00

Opening Remarks

  • Kyrylo Shevchenko, National Bank of Ukraine   
13:00 - 14:00

Keynote Speech

  • David Vavra, OGResearch 
  • Inflation targeting: A crisis of relevance?   
  •  
14:00 - 15:30

Session 1. Monetary Policy Toolkit during Pandemics

Moderator
Marko Skreb, Central Banking Consultant

 

  • Dimitar Bogov, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
  • Monetary policy in EE during Covid-19 – This time was different
  •  
  • Elina Ribakova, Institute of International Finance
  • Post-pandemic monetary policy
  •  
  • Csaba Balogh, Magyar Nemzeti Bank
  • Monetary policy toolkit in a flexible inflation targeting framework   
  •  
  • Joanna Niedźwiedzińska, Narodowy Bank Polski
  • Initial monetary policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic in inflation targeting economies   
  •  

 

15:30 - 16:00

Break

16:00 - 17:30

Session 2. Policy Response to a Current Surge in Inflation

Moderator
Karlis Smits, World Bank

 

  • Archil Mestvirishvili, National Bank of Georgia
  • The NBG’s response to inflation spikes
  •  
  • A. Hakan Kara, Bilkent University
  • Inflation dynamics when the anchors are lost: the case of Turkey   
  •  
  • Volodymyr Lepushynskyi, National Bank of Ukraine
  • The NBU’s response: Consistency and predictability in a highly uncertain environment  
     
  • Alina Slyusarchuk, Morgan Stanley
  • Policy response to the inflation challenge in CEEMEA and why we were all wrong on inflation
  •  
17:30 - 19:00

Session 3. Inflation Targeting Performance and Lessons for the Future

Moderator
Tomáš Holub, Czech National Bank

 

  • Oleksandr Faryna, National Bank of Ukraine
  • Central bank performance under inflation targeting: The role of policy design and institutional quality   
  •  
  • Adrian Armas Rivas, Central Reserve Bank of Peru
  • Inflation targeting in a partially dollarized economy: The case of Peru   
  •  
  • Mihai Copaciu, National Bank of Romania
  • Inflation targeting in Romania through the lens of a DSGE model   
  •  
  • Mishel Ghassibe, National Bank of Ukraine
  • Optimal inflation target for Ukraine: A model-based perspective   
  •  
19:00 - 19:15

Closing Remarks
Sergiy Nikolaychuk, National Bank of Ukraine