The Aggravated Monetary Policy Dilemma

Amidst an already heightened inflation environment, the repercussions of the war in Ukraine resemble a macroeconomic supply-side shock which puts monetary policy in a challenging situation. The ECB faces a difficult trade-off and needs to find the right balance between dampening inflation and sustaining economic growth. Our empirical estimates suggest that the ECB is presently not overly loose relative to its historical monetary policy record and that current inflation cannot be easily tamed by monetary policy alone.