In this paper, I examine the forecasting performance of a Bayesian Vector Autoregression (BVAR) model with a steady-state prior and compare the accuracy of the forecasts against the QPM and official NBU forecasts during the Q1 2016–Q1 2020 period. My findings suggest that inflation forecasts produced by the BVAR model are more accurate than those of the QPM model for two quarters ahead and are competitive for a longer time horizon. The BVAR forecasts for GDP growth also outperform those of the QPM but for the whole forecast horizon. Moreover, it is revealed that the BVAR model demonstrates a better performance compared to the NBU’s official inflation forecasts over the monetary policy horizon, whereas the opposite is true for GDP growth forecasts. Future research may deal with estimation issues brought about by COVID-19.
Beechey, M., Österholm, P. (2010). Forecasting inflation in an inflation-targeting regime: A role for informative steadystate priors. International Journal of Forecasting, 26(2), 248-264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijforecast.2009.10.006
Brazdik, F., Franta, M. (2017). A BVAR model for forecasting of Czech inflation. Working Papers 2017/7. Praha: Czech National Bank. Retrieved from https://www.cnb.cz/export/sites/cnb/en/economic-research/.galleries/research_publications/cnb_wp/cnbwp_2017_07.pdf
Carriero, A., Kapetanios, G., Marcellino, M. (2009). Forecasting exchange rates with a large Bayesian VAR. International Journal of Forecasting, 25(2), 400–417. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijforecast.2009.01.007
Chan, J., Jacobi, L., Zhu, D. (2019). Efficient selection of hyperparameters in large Bayesian VARs using automatic
differentiation. CAMA Working Papers, 46/2019. The Australian National University. Retrieved from https://crawford.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/publication/cama_crawford_anu_edu_au/2019-06/46_2019_chan_jacobi_zhu.pdf
Clark, T. E. (2011). Real-time density forecasts from Bayesian vector autoregressions with stochastic volatility. Journal of Business and Economics Statistics, 29(3), 327–341. https://doi.org/10.1198/jbes.2010.09248
Del Negro, M., Schorfheide, F. (2004). Priors from general equilibrium models for VARs. International Economic Review, 45, 643–673. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-/2354.2004.00139.x
Dieppe, A., Legrand, R., van Roye, B. (2016). The BEAR toolbox. Working Paper Series, 1934. European Central Bank. Retrieved from https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/scpwps/ecbwp1934.en.pdf
Foroni, C., Marcellino, M., Stevanović, D. (2020). Forecasting the Covid-19 recession and recovery: lessons from the financial crisis. Working Paper Series, 2468. European Central Bank. Retrieved from https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/scpwps/ecb.wp2468~068eec9e3e.en.pdf
Giannone, D., Lenza, M., Primiceri, G., (2012). Prior selection for vector autoregressions. Working Paper Series, 1494. European Central Bank. Retrieved from https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/scpwps/ecbwp1494.pdf
Grui, A., Vdovychenko, A. (2019). Quarterly projection model for Ukraine. NBU Working Papers, 3/2019. Kyiv: National Bank of Ukraine. Retrieved from https://bank.gov.ua/admin_uploads/article/WP_2019-03_Grui_Vdovychenko_en.pdf
Gustafsson, O., Villani, M., Stockhammar, P. (2020). Bayesian optimization of hyperparameters when the marginal likelihood is estimated by MCMC. Retrieved from https://arxiv.org/pdf/2004.10092.pdf
Iversen, J., Laseen, S., Lundvall, H., Söderström. U. (2016). Real-time forecasting for monetary policy analysis:
The case of Sveriges Riksbank. CEPR Discussion Papers, 11203. Retrieved from http://archive.riksbank.se/Documents/Rapporter/Working_papers/2016/rap_wp318_160323.pdf
Jarocinski, M. (2010). Conditional forecasts and uncertainty about forecast revisions in vector autoregressions. Economics Letters, 108(3), 257–259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2010.05.022
Krüger, F., Clark, T. E., Ravazzolo, F. (2017). Using entropictilting to combine BVAR forecasts with external nowcasts. Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, 35(3), 470–485. https://doi.org/10.1080/07350015.2015.1087856
Lenza, M., Primiceri, G. (2020). How to estimate a VAR after March 2020. Working Paper Series, 2461. European
Central Bank. Retrieved from https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/scpwps/ecb.wp2461~fe732949ee.en.pdf
Robertson, J. C., Tallman, E. W., Whiteman, C. H. (2005). Forecasting using relative entropy. Journal of Money,
Credit and Banking, 37(3), 383–401. https://doi.org/10.1353/mcb.2005.0034
Schorfheide, F., Song, D. (2015). Real-time forecasting with a mixed-frequency VAR. Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, 33(3), 366–380. https://doi.org/10.1080/07350015.2014.954707
Villani, M. (2009). Steady-state priors for vector autoregressions. Journal of Applied Econometrics, 24(4), 630-650. https://doi.org/10.1002/jae.1065
Waggoner, D. F., Zha, T., (1999). Conditional forecasts in dynamic multivariate models. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 81(4), 639–651. https://doi.org/10.1162/003465399558508