Forecasting ECB Policy Rates with Different Monetary Policy Rules

This article compares two types of monetary policy rules – the Taylor-Rule and the Orphanides-Rule – with respect to their forecasting properties for the European Central Bank. In this respect the basic rules, results from estimates models and augmented rules are compared. Using quarterly real-time data from 1999 to the beginning of 2019, we find that an estimated Orphanides-Rule performs best in nowcasts, while it is outperformed by an augmented Taylor-Rule when it comes to forecasts. However, also a no-change rule delivers good results for forecasts, which is hard to beat for most policy rules.