Compared with the situation in which objectives straddled both commercial and public policy dimensions, such a statement substantially increased the clarity of the guidance provided to central bankers. A sense of purpose had been identified. Their role was to discharge their functions in a manner consistent with the public interest, taking into account functions of other state agencies and coordinating with them if necessary. To the extent that the public interest could be served by adding functions not formally assigned, all to the good. Thus, progressively, many central banks began to assume responsibility for the development of the financial sector; oversight of the payment
system (beyond those parts that the central bank itself operated); and oversight of the 2
operation of money, foreign exchange, debt and capital markets.
From today’s perspective, such a general public interest objective is open to wide interpretation and offers little guidance as to what to do when functions, or views as to what is in the interest of the nation, conflict. Only in relatively recent times has much attention been given to the question of identifying specialised objectives for individual functions and to the potential for objectives to conflict.