Table 1  Inflation Targets Internationally  Country  Date Adopted  Target  Target variable  Australia  1993  Average of 2-3% over the medium term  ‘Underlying’ PI up until October 1998; CPI thereafter  Canada  February 1991  Midpoint 2% + 1% band  CPI  Finland*  February 1993  2% no explicit band  CPI excluding indirect taxes, subsidies and housing-related costs  New Zealand  April 1988  0-3% 0 – 2% originally  CPI excluding interest  Spain*  November 1994  2%  CPI  Sweden  January 1993  Midpoint 2% +1% band  CPI  United Kingdom  October 1992  2.5% +1% reporting range  Retail price index excluding mortgage interest payments  * Now members of the Euro area  5  Bernanke et al, 1999  6  Svensson, 1997  BIS Review 79/1999  4  NB.
Czech Republic, Republic of Korea, Israel, Mexico and Chile also describe themselves as inflation targeters, but not necessarily with explicit, public commitments to specific targets of the sort listed above. THE EVOLUTION OF THE MONETARY POLICY FRAMEWORK It seems a decade is a long time in monetary policy.