Central Bank Balance Sheet and Real Business Cycles

Chapter 3 Components of Central Bank Balance Sheets

As discussed in Chapter 1, understanding the composition and size of a central bank’s balance sheet is at the core of comprehending the strength of an economy, the range of monetary policy decisions that can be explored, and the possible outcomes of these decisions. However, there are no unified standards that dictate how often a central bank balance sheet should be disclosed to the public, how the sheet should be formatted, or which items are to be included on the balance sheet.

Table 3.1: Publication of central banks’ balance sheets in advanced economies, emerging and developing countries