Articles by Central Banking Newsdesk
Riksbank highlights complexity in choice of target
Report studies case for changing target to CPIF or HICP inflation, and reinstating target band, ahead of discussions over monetary framework reforms
People: Dennis Lockhart to stand down; Buch becomes Irving Fisher committee chair
Atlanta Fed president quits after 10 years at bank; Claudia Buch becomes chair of the BIS’s stats-focused committee; new head of research at the New York Fed
BoE shines light on its gender pay gap
Men are still paid more than women at the central bank, though the gap is narrowing, and smaller within pay bands than across the organisation
FOMC members disagree over need for rate hike
Lael Brainard argues labour market suffers from slack and monetary policy is weak when dealing with weak demand; Dennis Lockhart confident of recovery, despite “frustrating” inflation data
Eurozone exchange rate pass-through has declined over time – researcher
Italian exchange rate pass-through has behaved very differently from other major eurozone economies – particularly Germany’s – paper finds
BIS paper flags spillovers from bank dividends
Dividend payments create a channel through which one bank’s capital policy can affect the equity value and risk of default of others, giving capital the attributes of a public good
Yellen ‘should be ashamed’ – Trump
Republican nominee for US presidency attacks Fed chair Yellen and says interest rates must be raised
Skingsley calls for balance, as government prepares to rethink Riksbank Act
Central bank mandates need to be a balance of specificity and flexibility, while too broad a mandate could threaten independence, deputy says; government to consider six areas of Riksbank’s work
RBA’s Kent considers life after the mining boom
Australian economy is well into an adjustment, following the country’s mining investment boom; RBA correctly identified the patterns of adjustment, but was surprised by the magnitude
Recessions nearly tripled amount of Italian NPLs, paper argues
Italian bad debt levels would be almost one third of their current levels without the sub-prime and sovereign debt crises, a counterfactual analysis argues
Chinese financial spillovers to Asia-Pacific on the rise – BIS paper
Working paper finds Chinese equity markets now have almost as much of an impact on Asia-Pacific as the US, though the effects differ in stressed and placid times
Boston Fed’s Rosengren highlights risk of overheating
US economy looks “resilient”, despite some mixed signals from the data, says regional Fed president; advocates process of gradual rate hikes as the risk of an overheating economy grows
ECB consults on bad debt guidance
ECB “strongly encourages” the use of the European Banking Authority’s definition of non-performing exposures, but does not impose its own single measure for the eurozone
Azerbaijan central bank raises rates for fourth time this year as currency plummets
Falling oil and gas prices have major impact on Azerbaijan’s economy; IMF calls for major banking sector reforms
BoE’s Shafik to step down early
Deputy governor reveals she is to take up post as director of the London School of Economics in 2017, leaving the central bank more than two years before her term was due to end
ECB paper finds ‘sizeable’ impact from QE
Authors find empirical evidence of various channels through which asset purchases affect the eurozone economy, before testing them in a general equilibrium model
IMF’s Singh urges central banks to beware of collateral impact of policy
Senior economist says asset purchase programmes have drained quality collateral from the system, damaging the economy’s “financial plumbing”
Falling natural rates impacted by common global factors – Fed paper
Research by Kathryn Holston, Thomas Laubach and John Williams finds no sign of natural rate decline reversing; advanced economies jointly affected by global factors
Fed finalises rules for countercyclical capital buffer
US central bank promises it will only adjust the buffer gradually and will seek comment before doing so, after consultation flagged concerns
‘Neural network’ could help construct early warning systems – Colombian paper
Model can detect identity of bank by analysing features of its balance sheet, which the authors say can be coupled with other financial stress indicators to help classify banks by their fragility
RBA’s Lowe: credit not enough to measure financial cycle
Deputy governor says the financial cycle’s “considerable intuitive appeal” needs to be backed up with better research on measuring cycles, with balance sheets likely to play a key role
ECB delays decision on policy redesign
Mario Draghi says committees will investigate “smooth implementation” of asset purchases, but offers no new policies today; highlights signs of greater willingness for government action
George and Lacker push back against calls for Fed governance reform
Presidents say mixed public-private funding and governance helps protect the independence of the regional Feds, though others warn private banks are having too much say in policy
Carney deflects criticism of Brexit response
MPs question BoE officials on whether broad package of monetary easing was an overreaction; Forbes explains four factors behind dissenting vote