Normalization of Monetary Policy in the Euro Area - Challenges and Opportunities was the topic of the public lecture delivered by Robert Holtzmann, Governor of the Austrian National Bank and member of the European Central Bank Governing Council, at the UNWE. The event was organized by the Economics Department.
The official guest of the event was the Ambassador of Austria to Bulgaria H. E. Andrea Ikic-Böhm.
Governor Robert Holtzmann is one of the prominent members of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank and one of the main objectives of the presentation was to provide clarity on the functioning and decision-making on monetary policy in the euro area with regard to Bulgaria's aspirations to join the euro area.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yanko Hristozov, Vice Rector for International Affairs, opened the event and welcomed the official guests on behalf of the Rector of UNWE Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov, expressing thankfulness to the Governor of the Austrian National Bank Prof. Robert Holtzmann for agreeing to share his valuable experience and knowledge on highly actual financial issues in a global perspective with our students at the University. He introduced the lecturer as an Austrian economist and university lecturer with a long career and experience in the work of international institutions in the financial sphere.
"Bulgaria has always been a role model in terms of public finances and its monetary policy", emphasized Assoc. Prof. Hristozov in his speech. "The monetary policy and the work of the central banks gain more and more potential and importance in Bulgaria, especially with the current aspiration of our country to join the Eurozone soon. We are therefore very grateful for the opportunity to hold today's discussion. On our path to the euro, our country's accession to the Eurozone is of great importance. That is why we are proud of Bulgaria's monetary policy in recent years, because our country occupies the second place regarding the lowest external debt. As a financier, I hope that we will maintain our leading position in the coming years and that we will meet the inflation criteria and Bulgaria will have the opportunity to join the euro area as soon as possible", said the Vice Rector.
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| Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yanko Hristozov, Robert Holtzman, Atanas Pekanov, former Interim Deputy Prime Minister for EU Funds Management, economist at the Austrian Institute for Economic Research (WIFO) and lecturer at Vienna University of Economics |
The moderator of the event was Atanas Pekanov, former Interim Deputy Prime Minister, economist at the Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO) and lecturer at Vienna University of Economics and Business. He welcomed Prof. Robert Holtzmann and highlighted the importance of the topic of monetary policy by pointing out that "the central banks increasingly influence the macroeconomic policy, so it is crucial to focus on the longer-term prospects for the monetary policy development and the types of instruments it should use in the future".
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Atanas Pekanov expressed thankfulness to the Head of the Economics Department Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ivaylo Beev for the excellent organization of the event.
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Prof. Robert Holtzman expressed his thankfulness for the invitation and pointed out that the most important thing for him as a lecturer was to establish links between the universities and practice. In his lecture, he examined the dilemma of whether, when inflation in the euro area, the US and other countries is tamed in a few months or years, we can return to traditional pre-2008 monetary policy, when short-term interest rates /and reserve requirements/ dominated the monetary policy toolkit, or whether we should to re-apply the recent unconventional monetary policy /UMP/ - with lessons from the recent past and perhaps new unconventional tools to deal with too-low inflation. In this context, the lecturer spoke about the unconventional monetary policy and its new tools, which include the use of negative interest rates, quantitative easing, credit financing and forward guidance in all advanced economies with limited differences. He also pointed out the unintended consequences for central banks: persistent losses and a sharp rise in inflation, problems with balance sheets, with negative equity projected by 2030 or even 2040, which could undermine the independence of central banks.
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Prof. Holtzmann examined the options for a return to conventional monetary policy, emphasizing that the proposed conventional alternatives are limited in number and scope and include optimization strategies, asymmetric reaction functions and higher inflation rates. In addition, there are few studies on the unintended consequences of unconventional monetary policy, particularly on the distribution of income and wealth and on resource allocation.
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Participants with presentations on the discussed topic were Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ralitsa Simeonova-Ganeva, lecturer at the Economics Faculty of St. Kliment Ohridsky University of Sofia and member of the Economic Analysis Council, and Dr. Svilen Kolev, Deputy Chairman of the National Statistical Institute /NSI/. Rositsa Ganeva discussed two important policy channels for stimulating the natural rate of interest: counteracting negative demographic processes and increasing productivity growth. Svilen Kolev examined the possibilities of normalizing the monetary policy after the implementation of restrictive measures and the challenges in this regard, referring to a study by the Economic Analysis Council.
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The event was attended by prominent economists, representatives of the UNWE academic community, undergraduates, Doctoral students and guests.
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Before the event, the official guests had a short meeting with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yanko Hristozov and representatives of UNWE.
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| Robert Holtzmann, the Ambassador of Austria to Bulgaria H. E. Andrea Ikic-Böhm, Prof. Dr. Yanko Hristozov, Atanas Pekanov /from the left to the right/ |
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Assoc. Prof. Yanko Hristozov gave as gift to Robert Holtzman a book about Bulgaria. In his turn, Robert Holtzman gave as gift to Prof. Yanko Hristozov a CD of classical music.
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