Central Banking staff
Follow Central Banking
Articles by Central Banking staff
No link between loan constraints and productivity
Financial constraints do not lower productivity in most sectors of the economy, research from the International Monetary Fund suggests.
ECB releases Annual Report
The European Central Bank (ECB) published its Annual Report for 2008 on 21 April.
Sweden cuts rates to record 0.5%
The Riksbank cut its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point to an all-time low of 0.5% on 21 April.
Zimbabwe "raided private bank accounts
Gideon Gono, governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, the country's central bank, admitted on 20 April that he took hard currency from the bank accounts of private businesses and foreign aid groups without authorisation, in efforts to keep the country's…
Colombia requests "insurance" credit line from IMF
Colombia became the second Latin American country this year to ask for a credit line from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), when it requested $10.4 billion to help it withstand the global financial crisis.
Toxic assets must be removed: RBA's Stevens
Siphoning the toxic assets that plague banks' balance sheets is the first step in overcoming the current crisis, Glenn Stevens, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, has said.
ECCU very sensitive to US conditions
The business cycles of Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) economies are very sensitive to changes to the United States economy, research from the International Monetary Fund finds.
Bernanke stresses benefits of innovation
Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, has urged lawmakers to beware of regulating to prevent financial innovation, though he acknowledged that new products had to be transparent and understandable.
Crisis revealed SNB rate policy strength: Roth
The Swiss National Bank's (SNB) unique monetary policy proved useful in staving off a worsening of credit conditions in the wake of the financial crisis, Jean-Pierre Roth, the chairman of the central bank's governing board, has said.
Inflation is not forgotten - ECB's Trichet
Speaking in Tokyo, the president of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, stressed the need to keep a watchful eye on inflation.
Spain's governor feels the heat
Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega, deputy head of Spain's Socialist government has criticised the governor of the central bank, Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordonez, for being "alarmist" about the state of financing of the country's pension system.
Mexico cuts despite above-target inflation
The Bank of Mexico cited its growing concern about the extent of the slowdown in the national economy as the reasons for a deeper than anticipated cut in interest rates last Friday.
Lord George, former Bank governor, dies
Eddie George, governor of the Bank of England from 1993 to 2003, died of cancer Saturday, aged 70.
Australia's Ellis: higher wages aided economy
One of the reasons why Australia is coping better amid the turmoil is that real earnings of average Australian workers were growing much faster than in the United States, said Luci Ellis, the head of the financial stability department at the country's…
Albania's Ibrahimi: euro liquidity crucial
It is important that a reasonable flow of euros from banking groups' headquarters to their foreign subsidiaries is maintained, said Fatos Ibrahimi, the first deputy governor of the Bank of Albania.
Portuguese-speaking states team up: Macao's Teng
Closer cooperation between financial regulators can enhance the positive impact of financial industry on the economy of Portuguese-speaking countries, said Anselmo Teng, the chairman of the Monetary Authority of Macao.
European housing finance more resilient
Housing-finance markets in the euro area are more resilient to shocks their British and American counterparts, new research from the European Central Bank posits.
Former Kansas Fed chief dies
Roger Guffey, the head of the Kansas City Federal Reserve from 1976 until 1991, has died.
Inflation targeting not enough: BoE's Barker
Kate Barker, a member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has acknowledged that inflation targeting alone cannot produce economic stability.
British regulator denies whistleblower claims
The Financial Services Authority (FSA), the United Kingdom's financial regulator, has parried allegations made by a former employee that it had allowed building societies to become involved in areas of finance that they knew little about.
Sack succeeds Dudley as NY Fed markets chief
Brian Sack, now a vice-president at Macroeconomic Advisers, a firm of economic forecasters, will replace William Dudley as head of the New York Federal Reserve's markets group.
Bank of Finland - Annual Report 2008
The financial crisis has placed every aspect of the Bank of Finland's operational capacity under pressure, notes the central bank's latest Annual Report.
Euro adoption sparked some structural reforms
The adoption of the euro accelerated the pace of structural reforms in the product market, a research paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) posits.
A new method for evaluating risk aversion
Researchers from the European Central Bank have uncovered a new method of extracting time-varying risk aversion from asset prices.