Global supply chain inflationary pressures and monetary policy in Mexico: a disaggregated prices analysis

Abstract

This work examine the impact of stress in the global supply chains on inflation and monetary policy in Mexico, a representative emerging market economy. Using non-linear local projections, we estimate the degree of monetary policy tightening required in a high-stress supply chain environment and compare it to that in a low-stress environment. We instrument the monetary policy shocks with shocks to the federal funds rate. Results suggest that in a high-stress regime, the effect of an increase in the monetary policy interest rate on inflation over a one-year period is reduced considerably. We argue that this reduction is due to the slow response of inflation expectations to a monetary policy tightening in a high-stress regime. Furthermore, raising the interest rate has an effect on producer price inflation, a channel that is absent in a low-stress regime. This finding highlights the role of monetary policy in stabilizing inflation when facing supply shocks that are not necessarily permanent.