Monetary Policy and Exchange Rate Interactions in a Small Open Economy

The transmission mechanisms of monetary policy in a small open economy like Norway are analysed through structural VARs, with special emphasis on the interdependence between monetary policy and exchange rate movements. By imposing a long-run neutrality restric-tion on the real exchange rate, thereby allowing the interest rate and the exchange rate to react simultaneously to news, I find considerable interdependence between monetary policy and the exchange rate. In particular, following a contractionary monetary policy shock, the real exchange rate immediately appreciates, after which it gradually depreciates back to the baseline. The results are found to be consistent with findings from an “event study”.