We assess the impact of ECB monetary policy on global aggregate and sectoral commodity prices over 2001-2019. We employ an SVAR model and separately assess periods before and after the global financial crisis.
Our key results indicate that contractionary monetary policy shocks have positive effects on commodity prices during both conventional and unconventional monetary policy periods, indicating the effectiveness of unconventional monetary policy tools. The largest impact is documented on energy (fuel) and food commodities.
Our results also suggest that the effect of ECB monetary policy on commodity prices transmits through the exchange rate channel, which influences European market demand.