Central Banking staff
Follow Central Banking
Articles by Central Banking staff
China's Zhou wants SDRs as global currency
Zhou Xiaochuan, the governor of the People's Bank of China, has urged countries to adopt special drawing rights (SDR) as an international reserve currency as part of a move towards a more stable global monetary order.
Geithner bailout meets with mixed reviews
The markets loved it. But economists' reaction to US Treasury secretary Tim Geithner's public-private partnership to relieve banks of their toxic assets was more critical.
India's Subbarao sees key role for retail payments
Retail payments are going to be the drivers of the future payment and settlement architecture, said Duvvuri Subbarao, the governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
Buba to strengthen stability role
The Bundesbank is strengthening its role in financial stability by establishing a new department as part of a significant structural overhaul.
Turkish rates hit record low
The Central Bank of Turkey's decision to lower its benchmark rate by a full percentage point on Thursday took borrowing costs in the country at an all-time low.
Reforming regulation: how urgent, how effective?
Participants in a conference hosted by the London School of Economics and Deutsche Bank in London on Thursday were split over whether there was substance to regulatory buzzwords such as countercyclical supervision and utility-based banking.
Estonia to meet Maastricht criteria in 2009
Andres Lipstok, the governor of the Bank of Estonia, has said that the country will meet all the Maastricht criteria for euro entry later this year, reports say.
Rules alone will not stop crises: Rajan, White
Raghuram Rajan and William White, two highly-regarded economists, have said that regulation - whether it was tighter, less pro-cyclical or more systemic - would not prevent future crises unless fundamental structural and behavioural changes were made to…
Globalisation accelerated IMF's reaction
The pace of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) crisis responses has increased with the rise of financial globalisation, a new research from the Central Bank of Chile shows.
Albania needs core inflation reporting
Core inflation reporting and analysis should be included in the Bank of Albania's periodical reports on monetary policy, a paper from the central bank finds.
SARB's Mboweni advocates common sense
Financial and risk modelling should continue to play a role in future but it should be better balanced by basic business common sense, said Tito Mboweni, the governor of the South African Reserve Bank.
Switzerland's Jordan counters currency critics
The Swiss National Bank's foreign-currency measures should not be misinterpreted as a 'beggar-thy-neighbour' policy, said Thomas Jordan, a member of the central bank's governing board.
Morgan Stanley economist new MPC member
Alistair Darling, the chancellor of the exchequer, announced on Thursday that David Miles will replace David Blanchflower as an external member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on 1 June.
Japanese outlook grim
Economic conditions have deteriorated significantly and are likely to continue doing so for the time being, notes the Bank of Japan in its latest Monthly Report on economic and financial developments.
Monetary policy can affect fiscal spillover
Interventions by central banks can impact the magnitude and nature of a spillover from regional fiscal policy, a new paper from Banque de France posits.
RBA's Edey: regulation determined risk taking
Financial regulation unintentionally shaped the excessive risk-taking that occurred in the run up to the credit crisis, said Malcolm Edey, the assistant governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Fed feedback: bombshell welcomed but some concern
Reaction to the Federal Open Market Committee's decision to buy Treasuries has been broadly positive but some are concerned by the apparent rashness of a decision about which Fed officials had given scant indication.
Iceland's new MPC cuts by 100bp in first decision
The Central Bank of Iceland's Monetary Policy Committee, set up earlier this month, has cut the key policy rate by a full percentage point to 17%.
Bank to begin buying corporate bonds next week
The Bank of England said on Thursday that it would begin buying corporate bonds outright next week.
Global economy to shrink by 0.5-1%: IMF
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has again lowered its growth estimates, saying that it now sees a contraction of 0.5% to 1% in global activity.
A labour model for inflation dynamics
A model with sticky nominal wages and right-to-manage bargaining best captures the response of inflation to nominal labour shocks, a new paper from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve posits.
FSA's Turner unveils blueprint for reform
Lord Adair Turner, the chairman of Britain's Financial Services Authority (FSA), on Wednesday published proposals for fundamental regulatory overhaul of the financial system, which includes a shift in the approach of the industry watchdog, whose…
SA shifts to monthly schedule for rate moves
The South African Reserve Bank's rate-setters are will vote once a month for the remainder of the year after the central bank announced it was doubling the frequency of its meetings for 2009.