Monetary policy - 10 years after the financial crisis

Speech by Mr Agustín Carstens, General Manager of the BIS, to the Basler Bankenforum, Basel, 5 September 2019.

Ten years on, the major economies that bore the brunt of the Great Financial Crisis have largely recovered. Economic growth has been restored, unemployment rates have been drastically reduced and the banking system's safety buffers have been greatly strengthened. Policymakers' swift, forceful and determined response played an instrumental role in navigating economies through very challenging times and averting much worse outcomes. Central banks, in particular, through the use of a wide variety of unconventional monetary policy tools provided much needed support to sustain the recovery. Today, central banks face limited policy room and must be more cautious of the risk of side effects from running monetary policy close to its limits for too long. Monetary policy cannot be the main engine of growth going forward. It's time to ignite all policy engines.