There are generally acknowledged to be five key major macroeconomic policy objectives, low and stable inflation, strong but stable economic growth, low levels of unemployment and a sustainable balance of payments position.

One of the major economic objectives is inflation control, governments seek to have a low and stable rate of inflation. It is regarded as important not only to have inflation at a low level but also to make the inflation rate as predictable as possible since unanticipated inflation could cause some of the major economic problems. High inflation will undermine economic competitiveness, raises the cost of government borrowing, undermines economic activity, arbitrarily reduces the real income of those on fixed incomes and redistributes income from fixed rate lenders to fixed rate borrowers. A high and variable inflation rate can make it more difficult for economic agents to distinguish between nominal and real price changes in the economy which makes it harder to make optimal decisions regarding consumption and investment. High inflation can also undermine confidence in the domestic currency.

Another major objective of economic policy is having a high and stable economic growth rate; economic growth is regarded an important means of raising living standards and in helping to finance increased government expenditure on desirable public goods and services.

Keeping a low level of unemployment is another objective of economic policy as unemployment is considered to be a waste of resources, causes social deprivation and worsens the government fiscal position.

Fourthly, governments seek to have a sustainable balance of payments over time (which is sometimes taken to be seeking currency stability over time), this does not mean that the current account balance has to be always in balance, but it means that any deficit needs to be kept to a manageable size. A large balance of payment deficit would result in falling exchange rate which in turn would make imports more expensive and may cause inflation. Fluctuations in the exchange rates would create an uncertain environment for international trade and adversely affect international trade and growth.

A final objective can be financial system stability since a properly functioning and efficient and stable financial system underpins the entire economy and is important for households and firms when making economic decisions.