sharon donnery : launch of the saint brigid commemorative coin remarks by ms sharon donnery, deputy governor of the central bank of ireland, at the launch of the saint brigid commemorative coin, co kildare, 26 june 2024. * * * a dhaoine uaisle, distinguished guests, good afternoon. thar ceann bhanc ceannais na heireann, ba mhaith liom buiochas a ghabhail libh go leir as ucht bhur bhfailte chinealta. ta athas orm a bheith anseo. firstly, on behalf of the central bank of ireland, i would like to thank sister rita minehan and the directors from the solas bhride centre for their very warm welcome. as we all know, tradition says that st. brigid established a monastery in the town, ultimately giving cill dara its name, so it is only fitting we launch the coin commemorating her in this beautiful location in kildare today. €15 saint brigid collector coin the central bank acts as the agent for the minister of finance in issuing all irish coins, both circulating and commemorative. it is an important element of our public service role and is a unique way to pay tribute to individuals and events of national importance. in that regard we are very proud, in the year that marks 1, 500 years since her passing, to issue this €15 st. brigid collector coin to recognise one of our best - known saints. and it is a particular honour for me to be here to launch it. just 2, 000 of these coins will be issued and they go on sale at 2pm today. produced by the royal dutch mint, and designed by irish artist mary gregoriy, the coin's design features a young brigid holding an eternal flame and wearing her cape and hood. above her head is the guiding star of a st. brigid's cross and on her sleeve, she wears an oak leaf – to symbolise kildare and her monastery founded here. finally, she also holds a crook – symbols of her early life and that she had worked tending to animals in the fields. the artist wanted to combine the myth with the woman throughout the design, and i think you will agree with me when i say that mary achieved just that. as for all irish coins, the coin also features the emblem of our state, the harp. while the tails of our coins have changed

of kansas city at jackson hole, wyoming. always the same : 2 % on the cpi ( potentially departing from that only on rare occasions when, after a major supply / cost shock, we wanted to get inflation back to target more gradually than usual ). with price - level targeting, the de facto near - term target would regularly vary according to ( recent ) inflation outturns and the time horizon for offsetting them. that might confuse households and firms about the long - term objective, making it more difficult for the central bank to maintain credibility. by repeating an unchanging and simple message about the inflation rate we are aiming at ( 2 % ), we may make it easier for households to learn about our aims. ( d ) how should central banks respond to asset prices? others argue that whether the central bank targets consumer price inflation or the price level, they should also target asset prices. on this question, i subscribe to much of the current orthodoxy 27. of course, changes in asset prices feed into policy making as they are an important influence on demand conditions, through households ’ wealth, firms ’ cost of capital, and the price ( exchange rate ) at which we trade with other economies. but i do not believe we should use interest rates to target asset prices alongside consumer price inflation. in the first place, we just do not know enough about the determination of asset prices – especially of risk premia – to have much of an idea about what price to target. big moves in asset prices do occasionally occur because of changes in the underlying economic fundamentals. we could not be relied upon to distinguish between those benign changes and bubbles. but even if we could, i don ’ t see how in practice we could use our single instrument ( the overnight interest rate ) to target both consumer price inflation and asset prices – especially when one remembers that there are lots of different asset prices and that questions of disequilibria about them may run in different directions. having said that, there is no denying that asset prices can be a serious complication for monetary policy. and i think i would want to register just a slight qualification to a strong version of the proposition that the central bank should simply – as if it could be simple – ‘ mop up ’ after a bubble has burst. policymakers need to take care that the measures they take to offset the impact on aggregate demand of one type of imbalance unravelling do not themselves create or exacerbate imbalances elsewhere