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Mix-Ansicht- Bernanke in der FAZ: Wiederholt Ruf nach Inflationsziel - kingsolomon, 03.05.2003, 15:13
Bernanke in der FAZ: Wiederholt Ruf nach Inflationsziel
-->Bernanke Renews Calls for Inflation Targets
Sat May 3, 2003 07:09 AM ET
By Clifford Coonan
BERLIN (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Governor Ben Bernanke renewed his call on Saturday for the United States to join other countries and adopt an openly stated inflation target.
Bernanke told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung the Fed could improve how it communicates its economic views to the public -- a key issue in the inflation targeting debate -- which would help it achieve its congressionally mandated goals of stable prices and healthy economic growth.
"The Fed has had considerable success in fighting inflation. Now our task is to anchor the public's and the financial markets' inflation expectations at the current low levels," Bernanke told the German daily.
"It would be helpful in this if we decided on an inflation rate which we decided on as desirable in the medium term," said Bernanke, who took office last year after being chosen by President Bush.
Bernanke said that a possible range for acceptable inflation could be for a rise in an agreed consumer price index of between one and two percent, or between 1.5 and 2.5 percent, the newspaper reported.
U.S. core inflation in the 12 months to March was 1.7 percent, matching the February figure which was the smallest in 37 years.
Critics of inflation targets fear they could hamper the Fed's flexibility when it comes to combating financial crises.
Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan has his doubts about inflation targeting although some other U.S. central bank officials, particularly some presidents of the regional Fed banks, share Bernanke's point of view.
"I don't want to completely unravel our monetary policy -- this is already focused on price stability. But there is a need for better communication on how decisions are reached," he said.
Among major central banks outside the United States that use explicit inflation targets are the European Central Bank, the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England. Many developing economies are also adopting them.
CONTROVERSY
The Fed stirred controversy at its policy meeting in March when it jettisoned an expected formal statement on where the economy was heading, saying the Iraq war clouded the outlook.
Typically, the Federal Open Market Committee, after each policy meeting, releases a"balance of risks" statement saying whether it believes the economic risks are tilted toward overheating, weakness or are balanced between the two.
Bernanke said inflation targeting would be a way for the Fed to communicate more effectively with the public and could help to smooth the transition for the Fed when Greenspan eventually departs.
While the 77-year-old Fed chairman is in good health and appears in full command of his job, his term expires in June next year.
However, he defused speculation about his possible departure last month when he issued a statement saying he would have every intention of serving for a fifth term if nominated by President Bush.
Bernanke went on to say he did not think the United States faced deflationary pressure.
"There is no risk of deflation at the moment," he said.
The inflation rate was low, but still positive, and the economy was growing and the banking system was healthy, he said.
"Only an extremely unlikely chain reaction of unfortunate events could increase the risk of deflation," he said, adding that should this happen, the Fed was ready to deal with it.
Reuters
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