So the Committee also publishes a forecast conditioned on market interest rates, in order to provide a guide as to how the forecast depends upon the profile of short-term interest rates. The Committee has had more problems in trying to explain that there is no mechanical link between the central projection of the forecast for inflation two years ahead and the policy decision. This is for several reasons. First, the view of inflation both prior to and after the two-year horizon is important too. The optimal horizon over which to bring inflation back to target depends on the shock which moved inflation above or below target. Second, the risks to inflation around the central projection (defined as the mode of the distribution of inflation at future points) are also relevant to the policy decision. Third, there may be some risks to which the Committee does not wish to respond until they have materialised. But the Committee will continue to explain how its outlook for inflation relates to the policy decision, and, over time, we hope that this educational effort will pay off. Finally, there have been several miscellaneous suggestions for change to the MPC. First, the MPC has been accused of meeting too frequently and, as a result, changing rates too often. The EEF report suggested that the Committee meet only eight times a year, as does the Federal Reserve, because “meeting once a month could lead a central bank into changing interest rates too often in response to potentially misleading monthly data”.
Figure 5: Calmer developments on the housing market Index, January 2005 = 100. 300  300  250  250  200  200  150  150  100  100  50  05  06  07  08  09  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  50  Sources: Valueguard and the Riksbank. 20 [21]  Figure 6: Similar developments of currencies in small open economies Index, 5 January 2015 = 100. 120  120  SEK per EUR NOK per EUR AUD per EUR NZD per EUR CAD per EUR  115 110  115 110  105  105  100  100  95  95  90  15  16  17  18  90  19  Source: ECB. Figure 7: Declining use of cash in Sweden Percent of GDP. 12  12 Sweden  Norway  Other advanced economies  Euro area  10  10  8  8  6  6  4  4  2  2  0  00  03  06  09  12  15  18  0  Sources: BIS and the Riksbank. 21 [21]