Thanks for the question, @arunjhawarIndia. Firstly, the late great JM Keynes was not a central banker and especially since his theories are perhaps better suited to fiscal policy and the broader view of political directorates, Keynesian economics is no mantra for central banks.🧵 
2. Secondly, the idea that central banks should have growth as either a single mandate or part of multiple mandates, as opposed to a primary focus on price stability, is a somewhat outdated concept that has been at the root of several economic crises across the world.
3. Sustainable long-term growth IS the most important objective of overall economic policy, but central banks play a PART in executing economic policy, we do not monopolize it.
4. We must be wary of the tendency to act as if central banks alone should bear the overall responsibility for how economies perform.
5. If that were the case, then what of the role of political directorates and fiscal policy, the role of consumers, and, especially critical in a free market, the role of the private sector, on whom production depends? In reality, all play a part in facilitating each other.
6. Central bankers have a particular set of skills and central banks have a limited set of tools. With that reality in mind, modern central banks are of the view that like everyone else, we should stick to what we can do best. In our case, that happens to be managing inflation.
7. The best way for central banks to support the growth mandate is to keep inflation low and stable by conducting predictable and credible monetary policy free of political interference and also maintain the financial stability the economy needs to function.
8. This is not to suggest that we callously distance ourselves from the growth imperative and don't care.
9. On the contrary; central bank tools are designed to either stimulate or dampen growth with the impact of inflation, based on the state of the economy at any given time, but 'influencing' growth and having 'responsibility' for growth are not the same things.
10. Here in Jamaica, the central bank’s inflation target is set by the government. This is after consultation with the central bank, but the target also harmonizes the parameters of the fiscal programme and government’s growth targets.
11. Jamaica’s inflation target, therefore, is not a monetary policy measure in sterile isolation, but is by nature meant to support the government’s growth target, not impede it.
12. Our target is also intended to support the activities of the private sector, which is the real engine of growth, even if overall responsibility lies with the political directorate.
