Monetary Policy
IMF: Central banks ‘must' ease if inflation expectations drop
Easing should be conducted through ‘other means' than interest rates if they are at ZLB, Fund argues in WEO update, which downgrades global growth forecast for 2015 to 3.5%
National Bank of Denmark heads deeper into negative territory
Unscheduled cut pushes deposit rate further below zero and leaves lending rate barely in the positive as krone comes under pressure ahead of expected ECB action
Leaning against the wind may boost shadow banking: BoE researchers
Contractionary monetary policy may encourage growth of shadow banking even as it restricts commercial banks, casting doubt on the ability of central banks to ‘lean against the wind’
BoJ opinion survey highlights shift in expectations
Survey of public opinion sees Japanese people increasingly pessimistic about the economy as a whole, but there are signs the Bank of Japan’s policy efforts may be paying dividends
Economists at SNB study reuse of collateral
Working paper estimates the level of reuse activity in the Swiss franc report market between 2006 and 2013, before analysing the drivers of it
Plosser: Regular monetary reports would force FOMC to ‘think more deeply’
Philadelphia Fed president Charles Plosser sets out why the Federal Reserve should publish a quarterly monetary policy report – part of which he and colleagues have already modelled
SNB shocks markets by abandoning euro ceiling ahead of ECB showdown
Swiss franc sharply appreciates against the euro in the wake of the Swiss National Bank’s decision to scrap the minimum exchange rate; central bank does not rule out ad hoc interventions
Rajan catches markets off guard with unscheduled rate cut
Markets get ‘pleasant surprise’ as Reserve Bank of India unveils a rate cut outside its normal policy schedule; analysts predict further cuts to come
Legal opinion opens door for ECB bond-buying programme
Adviser to ECJ deems OMTs ‘compatible’ with European law in a move described as an ‘overwhelming success’ for ECB; could nonetheless restrict central bank's role in Troika
Canada deputy warns lower oil prices likely 'to be bad' for the country
Timothy Lane says gains from recent price drop ‘will be more than reversed' as hit to local producers ‘spill over to the rest of the economy'
Carney: ECB has ‘tools and clarity of mandate' to hit inflation target
BoE governor says there is ‘every reason' to expect the ECB to take the ‘measures necessary' to tackle low inflation as he weighs in on several international issues in parliamentary hearing
Bank of Japan to release first bond market survey results in March
With new QQE measures introduced in October, Bank of Japan will conduct a new bond market survey in February to 'enhance dialogue with market participants'
UK inflation drops to 0.5%
Consumer price inflation falls to its lowest level since records began, prompting Mark Carney to write his first explanatory letter to the UK chancellor; governor stresses immediate benefits
Central Bank of Azerbaijan hits back at FX critics
Forex interventions made in 2014 – buying foreign currency throughout the year and then reversing the trades in a single month – were essential for maintaining stability, central bank says
Prolonged weakness of Mexico’s peso could impact inflation, says central bank deputy
A weakening of the Mexican peso could lead to a pick-up in inflation and ‘should be carefully monitored’, says Manuel Sánchez
Israeli research finds monetary policy is ‘dominant factor’ on short-term yields
Paper published by Bank of Israel examines impact of monetary and fiscal policy on government bond yields; finds the influence of government debt has ‘strengthened’ in past decade
Tombini: Central Bank of Brazil to do ‘whatever is necessary’ to hit inflation target
Brazil central bank ‘will do whatever is necessary’ to ensure inflation enters into a ‘long period of decline’ from this year onwards, governor says
Bank of Mexico expects inflation back on target in 2015
Inflation in Mexico ended the year slightly above target, at 4.08%; Agustín Carstens expects it will converge to the goal of 3% ‘from mid-2015’
Fed earns $116bn on QE assets in 2014
Regional Fed banks transfer just under $100bn in earnings to US Treasury, a 27% increase on the previous year; operating expenses totalled $3.6bn
Economics in Central Banking: Claudio Borio
The Bank for International Settlements’ economics head secures win for his work applying the concept of ‘excess financial elasticity’ to the international monetary and financial system
Belarus central bank hikes key rate by 500bp
National Bank of the Republic of Belarus announces raft of measures to stabilise country's exchange rate; increases policy rate and reinstates currency basket peg
Central bank expects Serbian FX market to stabilise
National Bank of Serbia reveals it sold €1.8 billion and bought €260 million at various points last year in an attempt to ‘ease short-term volatility’ in exchange rate
FOMC member says ‘very low' inflation provides ‘ample justification' for patience on rate hike
Eric Rosengren highlights ‘unusual set of conditions' as Fed looks to normalise policy stance; says low inflation globally may prompt an atypically gradual normalisation process
SNB expects profit of $39 billion for 2014
Foreign currency positions responsible for most of the profit for Swiss National Bank, which increased its forex reserves by 7% in December following exchange rate pressure