A problem with the argument is that policy gradualism does not necessarily insulate bondholders from capital gains and losses. Indeed, we have just seen that, under a gradualist approach, a small change in the policy rate may have a relatively large effect on longer-term rates, because of its implications for private-sector expectations about the future path of short-term rates.
Though growth in external demand slowed down as of mid-2018, according to our estimate, the achieved GDP growth is attributable to domestic factors. A key contribution to growth came from fixed investments, which posted an s-a growth of 7.4% in the first quarter – namely, private investment by 8.0%, and government by 4.7%.