The advantages of introducing an exchange rate target within the statutes of the European Central Bank

With the help of a Keynesian dynamic macro-economic model in an open economy, this paper studies the possible consequences of introducing an exchange rate target within the statutes of the European Central Bank. It appears that such a target would have only slight implications for the mitigation of demand or external supply shocks. In the case of internal negative supply shocks, this scheme could limit the conflict of goals between the monetary and budgetary authorities and reduce the slowdown in economic activity. Nevertheless, the fact that the central bank tends to limit the fluctuations in its interest rates already has the same implications. On the contrary, in the case of positive shocks on interest rates in the rest of the world, an exchange rate target could have its own advantages. Such a scheme could limit the budgetary deficits and the variations in economic activity triggered by foreign shocks.