Unconventional Monetary Measures During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study for Central and Eastern European Countries

Abstract

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic had major negative repercussions on the countries from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), which experienced almost similar declines in the economy in 2020. Against this background, central banks from CEE initiated unconventional monetary policy measures aimed at mitigating the economic and social effects of the pandemic. The purpose of this article is to analyse the CEE central banks’ response to the pandemic crisis, i.e., the response of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Romania, and to unveil the particularities of the unconventional monetary policy adopted by these states. To achieve this goal, the article presents a chronology of the main decisions adopted by CEE central banks during the pandemic and the dynamics of these central banks’ assets. The main findings suggest that CEE monetary authorities, like major central banks, initiated the first measures to counter the negative effects of the pandemic on the economy in March 2020. All of them cut the key interest rate and injected liquidity through open market operations in order to support lending to the real economy. However, the magnitude of these measures was different depending on the economic and financial systems’ peculiarities. Moreover, not all of them initiated purchases of assets or new lending facilities.