Currently, the most important mandate for many central banks is to maintain price stability. Inflation targeting clearly defines this mandate in quantitative terms, and many central banks around the world have adopted such targeting (Chart 15). Theoretically, one could argue that other indicators, such as the nominal GDP growth rate, could be set as a policy objective.
However, their importance at present remains significant: around 70 percent of international trade is for production under these arrangements, a figure that can be roughly translated as trade in intermediate goods and services being about twice as large as that serving final demand.6  Notwithstanding their prominence, GVCs are particularly at risk due to ongoing trade conflicts.