Attempts to attenuate the financial stability risks from this broad property price boom with targeted macroprudential measures resulted in a large number of measures being applied, even including LTV restrictions on stand-alone car parking spaces, to which the boom had spread. •  If loose monetary policy can lead to a build up of financial stability risks, then the converse must also be true – tighter monetary policy can be used as a means of reducing financial stability risks. Most empirical estimates show that a temporary tightening of monetary policy can be expected to reduce real debt levels – and  BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  hence the probability of crisis – by discouraging households and firms from increasing leverage in the medium term, even if the transmission (through reduced aggregate demand and a higher interest burden) involves a short-run move in the opposite direction (for example, Goodhart and Hofman (2008)). •  This was recognised in the design of the UK Monetary Policy Committee’s 2013 guidance that it intended to maintain a highly accommodative stance of monetary policy until economic slack had been substantially reduced. Recognising the financial stability risks that could emanate from a commitment to maintain low interest rates, the MPC set a “knockout” whereby their guidance would cease to hold if the Financial Policy Committee judged that the stance of monetary policy poses a significant threat to financial stability that could not be contained by the combination of macro and micro prudential policy tools available.
With these few words, Mr Chairman, I would like to urge you, the participants, to be interactive in your discussions as this is one of the ways the workshop would add value to your knowledge and skills. I wish you fruitful discussions as you share your valuable experiences in macroeconomic analysis and modelling in support of Millennium Development Goals. I thank you for your attention. BIS Review 123/2007  3