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Forecast uncertainty and the Bank of England interest rate decisions

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  • Schultefrankenfeld, Guido

Abstract

To assess the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee decisions about the Official Bank Rate under forecast uncertainty, I estimate simple forecast-based interest rate rules augmented by the forecast standard deviations recovered directly from the Inflation Report fan charts. I find that interest rate decisions react to deviations of the medium-term forecasts for inflation from target in order to pursue the inflation target. Forecast inflation uncertainty has a strongly intensifying effect on this reaction. Information from output growth is utilized in the form of near-term forecasts. The associated forecast uncertainty of output growth has an attenuating effect on the interest rate reaction. When accounting for asymmetries in forecast uncertainty I find that forecast upward risks to inflation contribute to the intensifying effect of forecast inflation uncertainty. The corresponding downward risks have no significant impact. As regards output growth, asymmetries in the forecast uncertainty have no significant impact on the interest rate reaction at all. Moreover, I find that forecast risks to inflation have a direct effect on the interest rate decisions, in particular when inflation is forecast close to target.

Suggested Citation

  • Schultefrankenfeld, Guido, 2010. "Forecast uncertainty and the Bank of England interest rate decisions," Discussion Paper Series 1: Economic Studies 2010,27, Deutsche Bundesbank.
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:bubdp1:201027
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    Cited by:

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    2. Belderbos, Rene & Ikeuchi, Kenta & Fukao, Kyoji & Kim, Young Gak & Kwon, Hyeog Ug, 2013. "Plant Productivity Dynamics and Private and Public R&D Spillovers: Technological, Geographic and Relational Proximity," CEI Working Paper Series 2013-05, Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    3. Zhu, Sheng & Kavanagh, Ella & O’Sullivan, Niall, 2021. "Inflation targeting and financial conditions: UK monetary policy during the great moderation and financial crisis," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Forecast Uncertainty; Forecast Risk; Bank of England; Monetary Policy Committee; Forecast-based Interest Rate Rules;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C53 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Forecasting and Prediction Models; Simulation Methods
    • E43 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects
    • E47 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Forecasting and Simulation: Models and Applications

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