The Netherlands Bank's narrow monetary policy

Summary

In his article Mr. Timmerman describes the way the Netherlands Bank conducts its so-called narrow monetary policy,i.e. the policy pursued in the money and foreign exchange markets. The developments during the period October 1979–July 1981 serve as example of how movements in Dutch money market rates are dominated by exogenous factors. The author concludes that in a small open economy which maintains a stable exchange rate there is no room for an independent money market policy and that the hectic developments in the international money and foreign exchange markets have made illusory what until very recently was regarded as the most important objective of the narrow monetary policy,viz. an orderly money market.