Gabriel Makhlouf: The end of mumbling incoherence - enhancing credibility, effectiveness and trust through better central bank communication

Remarks by Mr Gabriel Makhlouf, Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, at the 6th DIW Lecture on Money and Finance, Berlin, 26 February 2020.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Introduction

Thank you, I am very pleased to be here today.

Since I joined the Governing Council last September, there has been much speculation about our review of monetary policy strategy, the first since 2003 and recently launched by President Lagarde.

Such a review is good practice. Since the economy evolves and develops over time, so too do the challenges for economic policy more broadly and for monetary policy. Taking a step back from the day-to-day conduct of policy to reflect on the bigger picture allows us to ensure that our approach remains fit for purpose.

We can and should periodically question the assumptions underlying our decision-making.  Some of these are important for our understanding of the environment in which we operate. For example: