Are central banks transparent?
I n September 2019, Christine Lagarde said that central banks should "be predictable and stick to their mandate". The recent trend is that central banks are transparent, and transparency can apply to many factors: The central bank’s objectives ; The functioning of the economy as the central bank sees it; The economic forecasts prepared by the central bank; The central bank’s internal debates. Central banks are definitely more transparent now than in the past: they publish their forecasts, show their models, and the minutes of the debates in their council (committee) meetings. But while they are transparent on the functioning of the economy, forecasts and debates, are they really transparent on their objectives? Can we be certain that central banks’ real objective is to stabilise inflation around the inflation target, and not to ensure fiscal solvency, boost demand and employment or weaken the exchange rate?