Monetary policy transmission mechanisms in Indonesia: revisiting the role of Divisia money

Abstract

This study examines the performance of monetary policy transmission mechanisms in Indonesia from the money view. The best choice of a monetary policy transmission channel has been a topic of debate for many years among researchers as well as central banks. This is mainly due to the inconsistent performance of different channels across countries and period of time. Therefore, it is crucial for policymakers to have a prior understanding of the strengths of the various monetary policy transmission channels. The role of Divisia money in the process of transmission mechanism has also been considered in the Structural Vector Autoregressive (SVAR) model of this study with eight variables and quarterly data from 1984Q1 to 2019Q4. In Indonesia, interest-rates are the major tool used by the central bank to achieve the targeted inflation rate. However, our empirical analysis has shown otherwise, suggesting that other channels are better in ensuring the transmission smoothness of the monetary policy. In addition, depending on whether a short- or long-run effect is desired, a different channel should be adopted to transmit the intended impact. This study has affirmed the superiority of Divisia money since most of the fluctuations in the key domestic macroeconomic variables in Indonesia can be explained by the monetary aggregate.