Financial Stability
Buba’s Weidmann defends German role in eurozone rescues
President of the Deutsche Bundesbank says criticising German authorities for their action, or lack of it, in helping struggling eurozone counterparts is “quite inappropriate”
Korea braces for higher oil prices
Bank of Korea governor holds economic review with leading academics and others; group discusses rising oil prices
Central Bank of Hungary governor offers to give up salary
Andras Simor attempts to ease conflict with government; desperate for the country not to lose ability to negotiate with International Monetary Fund over emergency funding
Lagarde stresses importance of firewalls
Managing director of IMF says she is “encouraged” by G-20 commitment to strengthening firewalls to limit spread of economic damage
IMF approves conditional distribution of gold profits
International Monetary Fund agrees to distribute $1.1 billion of profits from gold sales; member countries must first pledge contributions to Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust
IMF paper studies Indian growth spillovers to south Asia
Results of a panel growth regression suggests India’s growth has impacted region since 1995
Philadelphia Fed launches consumer credit and payments web pages
Research and statistics on consumer credit and payments now displayed on separate web page; includes searchable publications library and access to podcasts
Lithuania continues restructure of operations
Bank of Lithuania continues “optimising” operations; will concentrate key functions within specialised services and close a vault
Bank of Canada studies household finances and financial stability
Bank of Canada Review for winter 2011-12 examines recent research into rise in household debt and upward trend in house prices
Central Bank of Chile working paper deals with pricing norms
Chilean research relaxes standard assumption in macroeconomics that pricing decisions are taken by single-product firms
IMF paper looks at coincident indicators of capital flows
International Monetary Fund research paper finds methods of tracking capital flows often result in over-predictions
EU banking sector reform group finalised
EU commissioner reveals picks for expert group on banking reforms; governor of the Bank of Finland is chairman
Turkey agrees currency swap with China
Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey and People's Bank of China agree currency swap
RBI’s Chakrabarty notes progress in Indian banking sector
Reserve Bank of India deputy governor says improvements still needed in financial inclusion, competition, consolidation and globalisation
Asean+3 safety net needs more firepower
The regional liquidity safety net in Asia created via the Chiang Mai Initiative is still small and needs a more aggressive pre-emptive mandate if it is to head off crises before they occur
Spain’s Ordóñez remembers former governor
Governor of the Bank of Spain delivers opening remarks at conference held in memory of Luis Ángel Rojo, former governor of the central bank, who passed away last year
Vietnam and San Francisco Fed reflect on banking seminar
State Bank of Vietnam deputy governor meets with delegation from Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco; group discusses recent seminar on monitoring and managing banks in Vietnam
HKMA’s Chan says fiscal cuts are essential for Europe
Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief executive Norman Chan says Europe must make deep fiscal cuts to regain market confidence. Talks about macro-prudential regulation, the Hong Kong dollar peg and the internationalisation of the renminbi
Italy’s Visco issues call to action for banks
Governor of the Bank of Italy says banks must not “starve” the economy of credit; explains now is the time to intensify efforts to strengthen balance sheets
Bank of Portugal paper revisits asset pricing with a bank risk factor
Bank of Portugal research paper investigates how the banking sector influences the stock returns of non-financial firms
Mixed market response as Greece deal is proposed
Regional stock indexes show different impact as eurozone agrees on more bail-out funds for Greece; price of gold edged higher as euro rose after news broke
Bank of Japan adds to Tankan survey pool
Japanese central bank refreshes companies and financial institutions that make up the sample group for the influential survey; adds 102 enterprises and five financial institutions
New Norwegian coin commemorates Royal birthdays
Norges Bank reveals a commemorative silver coin to celebrate the birthdays of King Harald and Queen Sonja; profits from sale will go to charities
New fault lines in financial regulation
Deleveraging could trigger another crippling credit crunch in Europe at a time when the recovery is still fragile. By Jacques de Larosière