Monetary policy regimes and price stability in the West African monetary zone

Abstract

The study examined monetary policy regimes and price stability in the West African Monetary zone. This was undertaken given that countries in the zone are implementing different monetary policy regimes to achieve price stability for macroeconomic stability and economic growth, yet these have been elusive. So, the objective of the study was to examine the effect of monetary policy regimes on price stability in the West African monetary zone. The study adopted an ex-post facto research design and obtained secondary data from documents of the Central Banks of the WAMZ countries, the World Bank Development Indicator (WDI), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the International Financial Statistics (IFS) database for the period from 2001 to 2021. The method of data analysis involved the use of descriptive and analytical statistical tools. The estimation technique employed was the Panel Autoregressive Distribution Lag model, complemented by the Juodis, Karavias, and Sarafidis (2021) granger-causality test. The findings of the study indicate that the various monetary policy regimes being implemented in the West African Monetary Zone yielded conflicting effects on price stability. On the whole, the results show that the monetary policy rate against the money supply is more effective to achieve price stability in the West African monetary zone. Hence, the study makes the following recommendations; policymakers must ensure that an effective monetary policy is put in place to curb the persistent inflation in the zone that undermines socioeconomic development. Countries should review monetary policy rates appropriately to stimulate output growth, and, there should be cooperation between the monetary and fiscal authorities in the West African Monetary Zone to ensure smooth coordination and consistency in monetary and fiscal pursuits.