Articles by Central Banking Newsdesk
National Bank of Austria overhauls ‘outdated’ website
Austrian central bank spent €500,000 renovating its 10-year-old website, with a focus on condensing the content and making it easier to navigate
ECB working paper says sovereign spreads driven by fundamentals
Paper finds that before the crisis, eurozone sovereign spreads were somewhat decoupled from fundamentals, but since then, country-specific factors have played a bigger role than regional contagion
Bank of Greece says new banking model needed to sustain recovery
The country's economy is ‘stabilising', according to the central bank's annual report on monetary policy, but until the banking sector returns to health, alternative funding channels will be needed
Singapore's Tharman to stay on as head of IMF advisory body
International Monetary and Financial Committee calls on Singaporean finance minister, and former MAS chief, to remain in the chair for one more year
Central Bank of Venezuela to buy country's entire gold production
Central bank in joint bid with state oil company to ‘regularise' production, sales and purchases of the precious metal, which last year accounted for 70% of the bank's international reserves
Basel Committee says world's biggest banks can't report risk adequately
Globally systemic banks have provided the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision with an update on their progress towards risk reporting goals - revealing deficiencies in data aggregation
Monetary transmission not to blame for weak bank lending in Brazil, IMF paper finds
Fewer loans due to shift in demand and possibly rapid expansion of state bank credit; if anything, sensitivity of lending to Selic rate changes seems to have increased, according to author
RBA's Stevens says 2013 ‘not as bad as feared'
Reserve Bank of Australia governor tells parliamentarians there will be turbulence ahead when the Fed starts to ‘taper'; reminds that monetary policy alone cannot kick-start economic growth
Credit ratings hit prices 'significantly' more in times of crisis, paper finds
Effects of rating actions on market prices not crucial during favourable market conditions but 'very significant' in times of crisis; analysis covers ratings and prices of 16,500 bonds over 12 years
Bernanke praises Volcker and Greenspan contributions on policy communication
Current Fed chair uses centenary celebration to hail contributions of his two predecessors in improving the Fed's communications - including ‘qualitative forward guidance' under Greenspan
Bank of Tanzania launches financial inclusion framework
East African country is aiming for 50% formal financial inclusion by 2016, up from 22% today; strategy will tackle supply side, demand side and structural obstacles
Carney: UK businesses ‘understand forward guidance well'
New governor's policy of providing guidance on future interest rates is useful for businesses and households, he says - despite financial markets apparently not believing it
Sudan names new central bank governor
Abdul-Rahman Hassan was appointed by president Omar al-Bashir last week; he previously served as director of a local bank, according to state news agency
IMF could help overcome ‘myopia' on international monetary policy co-operation
IMF deputy head of research Jonathan Ostry argues in new paper with Atish Ghosh that international macro policy co-ordination could bring global welfare benefits, with IMF playing a central role
Liquid liabilities to become more expensive as a result of Basel III, says RBA's Debelle
New liquidity rules will make liabilities with less than 30 days to maturity more costly for banks to provide, making it a more expensive liquidity service for customers to obtain, says RBA assistant governor
FDIC's Hoenig says government backstops remain 'generous subsidy' for big banks
The competitive inequities that result from too big to fail remain mostly unaddressed, Hoenig says; calls for separation between commercial banks and broker-dealers
Government intervention shielded Korea from global credit crunch
Paper by Bank of Korea and IMF economists argues external buffers such as foreign reserves and swap agreements means the country is in good shape to weather global financial turmoil
Fed appoints five new regional reserve bank chairs for 2014
Fed board of governors has released the names of regional reserve bank chairs and deputy chairs for 2014; JC Penney CEO and Yale economics professor among new appointees, seven chairs reappointed
Danièle Nouy confirmed as chair of SSM supervisory board
Top French supervisor formally appointed after ECB nomination and European Parliament approval; first job will be to agree on her deputy, to be chosen from ECB executive board
ECB launches online competition to familiarise citizens with new €10 banknote
Players have to uncover four security features and also guess the number of euro banknotes in circulation in the euro area on December 31, 2013; new note unveiled on January 13
ECB working paper finds indebted countries should pursue austerity at ZLB
Model seeks to incorporate effects of government debt when examining how to tackle a liquidity trap at the zero lower bound
Estonian governor says ECB supervision poses Nordic and Baltic challenge
The direct supervision of banks operating in the eurosystem but headquartered elsewhere will create 'new challenges' for Nordic and Baltic co-operation, according to Ardo Hansson
EBA warns of Bitcoin risks
European Banking Authority tells Bitcoin users to invest only what they can ‘afford to lose’ as not much can be done about exchange failures or digital theft
Serbia completes ECB's 'most ambitious programme to date'
Three-year programme has prepared the National Bank of Serbia to take a lead role in negotiating the country's entry into the EU and the central bank's entry into the ESCB