The contribution that monetary policy makes to sustainable growth is the maintenance
of price stability. Since sustained increase in price levels is adjudged substantially to be
a monetary phenomenon, monetary policy uses its tools to effectively check money
supply with a view to maintaining price stability in the medium to long term. Theory and
empirical evidence in the literature suggest that sustainable long term growth is
associated with lower price levels. In other words, high inflation is damaging to long-run
economic performance and welfare. Monetary policy has far reaching impact on
financing conditions in the economy, not just the costs, but also the availability of credit,
banks’ willingness to assume specific risks, etc. It also influences expectations about
the future direction of economic activity and inflation, thus affecting the prices of goods,
asset prices, exchange rates as well as consumption and investment.
A monetary policy decision that cuts interest rate, for example, lowers the cost of
borrowing, resulting in higher investment activity and the purchase of consumer
durables. The expectation that economic activity will strengthen may also prompt banks
to ease lending policy, which in turn enables business and households to boost
spending. In a low interest-rate regime, stocks become more attractive to buy, raising
households’ financial assets. This may also contribute to higher consumer spending,
and makes companies’ investment projects more attractive. Low interest rates also
tend to cause currency to depreciate because the demand for domestic goods rises
when imported goods become more expensive. The combination of these factors
raises output and employment as well as investment and consumer spending.