The Case for Reform of the RBA's Policy and Communication Strategy

At any time, the public should be able to evaluate whether the Reserve Bank of
Australia's interest rate decisions are consistent with achieving statutory mandates. The
current policy and communication strategy makes this difficult. The mandates, as
interpreted by the RBA, fail to provide a clearly identifiable performance benchmark. And
the supporting communication strategy falls short of a commitment to explain the
economic basis of why and how interest-rate decisions achieve mandated objectives.
Examples of both concerns are given from various public documents. Basic reforms
would improve the accountability and effectiveness of monetary policy.