Monetary policy frameworks and central bank market operations

Markets Committee Compendium

This Compendium lets you easily retrieve and customise information on monetary policy frameworks and market operations of Markets Committee member central banks.

Central banks' decisions and actions are shaped by their operational frameworks. These frameworks evolve as market conditions, policy goals and the structure of financial markets change. While monetary policy operating frameworks share similarities, there are also noticeable differences across currency areas.

The Compendium gives a comprehensive cross-country overview of the relevant aspects for monetary policy implementation. This includes information on eg institutional features of monetary policy frameworks, communication of policy and the "nuts and bolts" of operations (including reserve requirements, the modalities of standing facilities and the tools for open market operations). The Markets Committee shares such detailed information with the broader public in order to enhance market transparency and the understanding of central bank actions.

The descriptions of monetary policy frameworks presented in the Compendium have been submitted by the respective central banks and either reproduce or summarise information which is already publicly available in their publications or on their websites. The original central bank publications remain the ultimate references.

Information is as of November 2022. The data shown in the Comparison tab for the year 2020 are as of September 2020 and for the year 2019 as of October 2019.

Navigating the Compendium online tool

Navigating the online tool is easy and intuitive. It has three main areas:

  • "Currency area overviews" summarises the institutional frameworks and key features of monetary policy operating procedures for each currency area.
  • "Elements" provides the main content on the "nuts and bolts" of the operating procedures and gives motivations behind the 15 framework elements.
  • "Comparison" lets you easily customise your queries to obtain a cross-country and/or a cross-table perspective on various elements of central banks' operating frameworks.

In the "Comparison" tab, you can first select the currency areas of interest and then specify the framework elements of interest (say, the modalities of standing facilities). At a lower hierarchical level, you can then choose the specific subcomponents for your comparison (eg to analyse the modalities of the central banks' lending facilities or which entities have access to the deposit facility). The query will then produce a customised table allowing you to make cross-country comparisons. All data can be easily exported (in XLS and CSV format).