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Forecasting inflation and tracking monetary policy in the euro area: does national information help?

Author

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  • Venditti, Fabrizio
  • Cristadoro, Riccardo
  • Saporito, Giuseppe

Abstract

The ECB objective is set in terms of year on year growth rate of the Euro area HICP. Nonetheless, a good deal of attention is given to national data by market analysts when they try to anticipate monetary policy moves. In this paper we use the Generalized Dynamic Factor model to develop a set of core inflation indicators that, combining national data with area wide information, allow us to answer two related questions. The first is whether country specific data actually bear any relevance for the future path of area wide price growth, over and above that already contained in area wide data. The second is whether in order to track ECB monetary policy decisions it is useful to take into account national information and not only area wide statistics. In both cases our findings point to the conclusion that, once area wide information is properly taken into account, there is little to be gained from considering national idiosyncratic developments. JEL Classification: C25, E37, E52

Suggested Citation

  • Venditti, Fabrizio & Cristadoro, Riccardo & Saporito, Giuseppe, 2008. "Forecasting inflation and tracking monetary policy in the euro area: does national information help?," Working Paper Series 900, European Central Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:2008900
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    Cited by:

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    2. Guido Bulligan & Roberto Golinelli & Giuseppe Parigi, 2010. "Forecasting industrial production: the role of information and methods," IFC Bulletins chapters, in: Bank for International Settlements (ed.), The IFC's contribution to the 57th ISI Session, Durban, August 2009, volume 33, pages 227-235, Bank for International Settlements.
    3. Ryadh M. Alkhareif & William A. Barnett, 2022. "Nowcasting Real GDP for Saudi Arabia1," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 333-345, April.
    4. Guido Bulligan & Massimiliano Marcellino & Fabrizio Venditti, 2012. "Forecasting economic activity with higher frequency targeted predictors," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 847, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    5. Angela Capolongo & Claudia Pacella, 2021. "Forecasting inflation in the euro area: countries matter!," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 61(5), pages 2477-2499, November.
    6. Guido Bulligan & Roberto Golinelli & Giuseppe Parigi, 2010. "Forecasting monthly industrial production in real-time: from single equations to factor-based models," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 303-336, October.
    7. Novikova Natalia & Volkov Dmitry, 2012. "Modelling core inflation in Ukraine in 2003-2012," EERC Working Paper Series 12/12e, EERC Research Network, Russia and CIS.
    8. Christina Bräuning & Ralf Fendel, 2018. "National information and euro area monetary policy: a generalized ordered choice approach," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 501-522, March.
    9. Bulligan, Guido & Marcellino, Massimiliano & Venditti, Fabrizio, 2015. "Forecasting economic activity with targeted predictors," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 188-206.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    dynamic factor model; forecasting; inflation; monetary policy; Taylor rule;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C25 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions; Probabilities
    • E37 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Forecasting and Simulation: Models and Applications
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy

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