Data & Methodology: Global Policy Rate Map

What This Product Is

The Global Policy Rate Map tracks central bank policy rates across 39 jurisdictions — the complete universe of economies with a current policy-rate series in the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) data. For each economy we show the current policy rate, the direction and size of the most recent move, the central bank's inflation target, the latest real policy rate (policy rate minus inflation), and key macroeconomic indicators including debt-to-GDP and GDP growth.

The Euro Area is shown as a single row (EMU) covering all 20 euro member states, since the European Central Bank sets one policy rate for the entire currency union.

Data Sources

• Policy rates: Bank for International Settlements, WS_CBPOL (central bank policy rates). BIS tracks the official policy rate for each jurisdiction — e.g., the Fed funds target mid-point for the United States, the ECB deposit facility rate for the Euro Area, the Bank of England Bank Rate, and the Bank of Japan policy interest rate.
• Inflation: World Bank (annual CPI inflation, percent). Inflation vintages are annual and include year labels.
• Debt and growth: IMF World Economic Outlook (WEO). Debt-to-GDP ratios and real GDP growth rates are the latest estimates published by the IMF.
• Inflation targets: Curated official targets, verified September 26, 2026. Each central bank's target is sourced from its official communications.

Definitions and Calculations

• Policy rate: The BIS end-of-period daily policy rate for each jurisdiction, expressed as a percentage. The specific rate definition varies by central bank (see the rate-series note in the tooltip).
• Last move: The most recent rate change, expressed in basis points (bps). A hike is positive, a cut is negative, and a hold shows no change.
• Real policy rate: The policy rate minus the latest annual CPI inflation rate (both dates disclosed). This is the page's signature number — it shows whether policy is restrictive (positive) or accommodative (negative) in real terms.
• Target gap: The policy rate minus the central bank's official inflation target. Null for pegged regimes (Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait) that do not target inflation.
• Cycle peak: The highest policy rate observed in the BIS series history for each jurisdiction, with its date. This marks the top of the current tightening cycle.
• Versus peak: The current policy rate minus the cycle peak, expressed in basis points. A negative value indicates the cumulative easing since the peak; zero means the rate is at its cycle high.
• Months at level: The number of months since the most recent rate change. Shown in the Last Move tooltip to indicate how long the current rate has been in effect.
• Debt/GDP: General government gross debt as a percentage of GDP, from the IMF WEO. The year label indicates the estimate vintage.
• GDP growth: Annual real GDP growth rate, from the IMF WEO. The year label indicates the estimate vintage.
• Global aggregates: The median and average policy rates computed across all 39 jurisdictions, plus trailing-30-day decision counts (cuts, hikes, holds) based on each economy's most recent rate decision date. These provide a real-time pulse of global monetary policy stance.
• Momentum: The signed sum of policy rate changes over a trailing window — 90 days and 12 months — expressed in basis points. Positive values indicate net tightening over the period; negative values indicate net easing.
• Stance: A monetary-policy label derived from the real-rate sign combined with the policy rate's position relative to the central bank's inflation target. Where no explicit target exists (pegged regimes), the real-rate sign alone determines the stance.
• Currency vs USD: The year-to-date percentage change of the economy's currency against the US dollar, using ECB reference rates. For currencies the ECB does not publish (ARS, CLP, COP, PEN, MAD, KWD, RUB), the open currency-api dataset is used. Positive values indicate the currency has strengthened against the dollar; null for the United States.

Update Cadence

Policy rate data refreshes daily at 6:30am Central Time, ahead of the 7am morning brief. Inflation, debt, and growth figures update on their respective publication schedules (monthly for some inflation series, quarterly/annual for IMF WEO).

Known Limitations

• BIS lag: BIS data has approximately a 1 business day lag. The most recent rate decision may not appear until the following business day.
• Argentina: The BIS series for Argentina ends in July 2025. More recent Argentine rates are maintained from central bank communications.
• Israel and India: These jurisdictions publish policy rate data with longer lags than other economies.
• Inflation vintages: Inflation figures are annual with year labels. The latest available year may differ across economies.
• Pegged regimes: Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait anchor their monetary policy to exchange rates rather than inflation targets. Their policy rates track the peg currency (typically the US dollar) and they do not have explicit inflation targets.
• Euro Area: Shown as one row (EMU) covering all 20 euro member states. The European Central Bank sets a single policy rate for the entire currency union.

Citing This Product

Change Log

• September 26, 2026: Initial release.
• Tracked framework changes:
  • Brazil: continuous 3.0% target (January 2025)
  • South Africa: 3% point target (2025)
  • China: "around 2%" (2026)