Bank of Mexico's "strong countercyclical policy actions" during the financial crisis would not have been feasible 20 years ago, when the central bank was typically forced to respond to a crisis by raising, rather than cutting, interest rates to stem capital flight, exchange rate depreciation and higher inflation, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said yesterday during a conference in Mexico City.

Singling out central bank independence – Bank of Mexico was granted policy autonomy in 1993 – as