Financial decisions of economic agents are based on volatility considerations. However, no aggregate indicators have been used by policymakers and regulators to assess the market risk environment. This paper applies a market volatility indicator to analyze the Israeli's transition toward inflation targeting. Unlike conventional measures of volatility, it shows a substantial decline once volatility is measured against the minimum variance for the same returns on assets. Using a conventional Multivariate GARCH model, we find that interest rates sensitivity to changes in the risk environment may be important for a correct identification of volatility patterns of individual assets.

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