Central Banking in the COVID-19 Era: Implications for Central Banking Independence

On September 24, the Central Banking in the COVID-19 Era series continued with Veerathai Santiprabhob, Governor of Bank of Thailand; Athanasios Orphanides, former Governor of the Bank of Cyprus; Kathryn Judge, Harvey J. Goldschmid Professor of Law at Columbia Law School. The panelist discussed the extraordinary responses of central banks to the pandemic, including both greater risk-taking by central banks and very close cooperation with fiscal authorities on risky lending programs, particularly to support the nonfinancial sector. Are central banks risking future independence through their current actions?

The panelists were joined by SIPA’s Takatoshi Ito (moderator) and Patricia C. Mosser (discussant).