WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday said putting pressure on central banks to lower interest rates “always backfires,” warning that erosion of trust in monetary authorities could de-anchor inflation expectations.
IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said the IMF was seeing increasing pressures on central banks to lower interest rates, but did not name any specific countries.
He said the loss of trust in central banks could have negative consequences for efforts to keep inflation expectations in check, a lesson learned in the past by advanced and emerging economies.
“Trust in central banks helps anchor inflation expectations, and this credibility needs to be protected. As trust erodes, inflation and inflation expectations always rise, macroeconomic stability deteriorates and everyone loses out,” he told reporters at the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank.
(Reporting by David Lawder and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )
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