Introduction The debate on the independence of central banks is, fortunately for both governors of central banks and Ministers of Finance, gradually losing its momentum.
The discussions were often misguided and created the misleading impression that central bankers had a desire to be completely isolated from their political masters, and that monetary policy objectives could and should be pursued in complete isolation from fiscal and other macroeconomic policies. This is, of course, not realistic. Monetary policy is but part of the overall macroeconomic strategy pursued by governments.