Inflation targeting has been an increasingly popular framework since it was first adopted by New Zealand in 1990. Most studies have shown that it has been a useful framework for assisting in bringing down and maintaining inflation at low levels.
Currently inflation targeting is probably facing its most severe challenge, as international oil prices have quadrupled since the beginning of 2004, and global food and other commodity prices are experiencing persistent strong increases. Whereas a few years ago most countries were within their inflation targets, this unfortunately and regrettably is not the case today.