Monetar y Policy and Financial Regulation 21 prices in global markets for essential goods, such as food and energy, can also contribute to inflation through the cost of imports. Inflation, in other words, can be related to several other issues, besides monetary policy. Equality and Non-Discrimination The trade-offs between inflation and employment also differ for different groups, with benefits accruing accordingly. As already discussed, monetary policy which tries to reduce inflation by raising interest rates can also reduce employment. However, the costs of losing a job are not distributed equally. More marginalized populations, including women and different ethnic and racial groups, often disproportionately experience the negative consequences of such policy choices. For example, research has shown that central bank policies adopted during periods of inflation reduction in developing countries have different impacts on women’s and men’s employment.24 These dynamics need to be taken into account when evaluating monetary policy choices from a human rights perspective. In addition, monetary policy influences the amount of credit available in the economy. How these resources are used—and the extent to which they support the realization of economic and social rights—depends on the nature of financial institutions and how the financial sector is regulated. Financial sector policies can influence the incentives investors face and affect the ways in which credit is directed. For example, financial regulations can support lending to small and medium enterprises or lending to improve access to housing, instead of supporting financial speculation. Institutional Structures of Central Banks Central banks have human rights obligations with regard to making maximum available resources available. If we are to develop a framework for securing the maximum available resources for economic and social rights, we should think more broadly on the role of central banks in mobilizing resources for job creation, not only inflation-targeting and price stability. In doing this, the key is to explore the institutional structures and mandates of central banks, because they affect the objectives and tools at their disposal and also set out what exogenous and endogenous obstacles governments have in mobilizing the maximum available resources. Several central banks have a strict price stability mandate under law, with little to no discretion to engage in employment creation. Numerous central banks around the world have formally adopted a policy of ‘inflation-targeting’ in which the central bank announces very low target inflation rates, without explicitly quantifying or taking into account the costs—in terms of lost employment and growth—of meeting these goals. Inflation-targeting is often justified in terms of improving accountability of the central bank, but without an allowance for greater transparency and participation in setting targets and conducting policy. The extent to which the mandate and practices of the central bank, a government