Communicating Policy Options at the Zero Bound

Lukas Burkhard () and Andreas Fischer ()
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Lukas Burkhard: Swiss National Bank, Postal: Boersenstrasse 15, P. O. Box, CH - 8022 Zurich, Switzerland, http://www.snb.ch/

No 2007-12, Working Papers from Swiss National Bank

Abstract: This paper examines a special episode in communication practices of the Swiss National Bank (SNB) when short-term interest rates reached the zero bound. A particular feature of SNB communication policy at the time was to talk openly about alternative policy instruments despite the fact that they were never implemented. Non-sterilized FX interventions were frequently mentioned as a potential instrument. We ask how did financial markets respond to the SNBs repeated references of non-sterilized interventions? The empirical results with high frequency data provide strong evidence that SNB intervention references depreciated the domestic currency for several hours. The case study supports the view that communication is an effective tool for monetary policy.

Keywords: Exchange Rate; Central Bank Communication; Zero Bound (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E58 F31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: Written 2007-04-30

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Related works:
Working Paper: Communicating Policy Options at the Zero Bound (2007)
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