In an era of unprecedented monetary policy measures, which range from charging savers to keep their money in banks to printing money to hand out to the public, major central banks have been relatively quiet in July.
The Bank of England surprised markets by holding interest rates, despite prior guidance from Governor Mark Carney that policy easing could be forthcoming.
Next, the European Central Bank (ECB) kept rates on hold at its first meeting since the UK voted to leave the European Union, amid the precarious state of the European banking industry and the uncertainty caused by Brexit.
In the final week of July, the U.S. Federal Reserve also held rates, despite painting a rosier picture of the U.S. economy.
The Bank of Japan, meanwhile, confounded markets by opting to increase its purchases of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), while leaving interest rates unchanged.
Markets had hoped for a hefty stimulus package from Governor Haruhiko Kuroda to complement the 28 trillion yen fiscal stimulus ($265.30 billion) announced by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe previously.
Based on their performances so far, and in the spirit of the Summer Olympics starting in Rio this month, tell us which central banker deserves a gold medal.
