IMF Updates Central Bank Legislation Database
IMF News, August 16, 2016
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- IMF Updates Central Bank Legislation Database
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Bibliographic details
- Published: August 16, 2016
Overview and purpose
- The IMF’s Central Bank Legislation Database (CBLD) has been upgraded to allow informed policy discussions and analysis as central banking rules change.
- The database is described as the most comprehensive central bank law database in the world.
- Accessibility: primarily for central bank and monetary union officials.
Coverage and content
- Compiles up-to-date central bank laws and excerpts from the constitutions of 126 IMF member countries and monetary unions.
- Countries and unions are divided into several categories according to:
- central bank objectives and powers,
- monetary policy,
- central bank organizational aspects,
- financial provisions (such as central bank capital),
- foreign exchange policy,
- payments system regulations.
- Includes a law library with central bank laws in English.
- Contains references to IMF working papers on topics such as central bank independence and accountability, governance, financial provisions, and transparency.
Update history and search features
- The 2016 database update builds on data from central banks and monetary unions in 2014 and 2015.
- Provides diverse search possibilities for individual countries and groups of countries on the basis of:
- region,
- income level,
- exchange rate arrangement,
- monetary union.
Analytical illustrations in the update
- Charts accompanying the update:
- Chart 1 and Chart 2 show which central bank laws include price stability as a central bank objective, both by region (Chart 1) and income level (Chart 2).
- A further distinction is made between: price stability only, price stability with subsidiary macro objectives (i.e., where price stability is the primary objective), and price stability alongside other macro objectives (i.e., where price stability is not the single primary objective).
- Chart 3 shows who is in charge of defining monetary policy within a central bank, varying from the Board, through a Monetary Policy Committee, the Governor, to the central bank as a whole, without a clear allocation of power determined in the law.
Contact for more information
- IMF Monetary and Capital Markets Department, Central Bank Legislation Database: mcmcbld@imf.org
IMF News — Policy; August 16, 2016