Monetary Policy
Mario Draghi can ‘use the force' in central banking ‘confidence trick'
Market participants say ECB president Mario Draghi is the ‘Yoda' of central banking for his adept use of ‘Jedi mind tricks'
ECB's Cœuré says German lowflation threatens to trigger eurozone ‘race to the bottom'
Executive board member argues bank's June measures were necessary as Germany plays a 'benchmark role for peripheral countries in correcting their imbalances'
ECB cuts frequency of monetary policy meetings
The governing council will set policy once every six weeks from January 2015; when combined with new rotation system national central bank governors will only vote six or seven times each year
Solomon Islands paper investigates monetary policy transmission mechanism
Second paper in a new series from the Central Bank of the Solomon Islands examines role of M1 and exchange rate on inflation and output in the Pacific archipelago
Ingves outvoted as Riksbank cuts 50bp
Swedish central bank hits zero lower bound for first time since 2010 as inflation plummets; outvoted Ingves says his standing is not weakened, calls housing situation ‘acute'
Glenn Stevens lifts veil on RBA comms strategy
Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens says guidance on the future path of interest rates has ‘served its purpose’ and tells markets what to look for next
Dutch paper: Fed guidance pushed up equity prices abroad
Working paper published by The Netherlands Bank attempts to quantify impact of Fed’s forward guidance on international equity markets
Italian socialist tipped to lead ECB-watching Econ Committee
Roberto Gualtieri likely to be elected as chair of the Econ Committee next week in the European Parliament, making him the chief point of contact with the European Central Bank
Tombini says inability to instil confidence ‘central explanation' for weak recovery
Central Bank of Brazil governor says ‘longer period of normalisation of monetary policy' a possibility; domestic inflation 'under control' and likely to remain ‘well behaved'
BIS's Caruana warns low interest rates are ‘self-validating'
Persistent low interest rates can become self-validating, BIS general manager Jaime Caruana warns, in annual speech in which he called for greater international co-ordination
Plosser: Fed should be stripped of dual mandate
Charles Plosser says the Federal Reserve should ‘focus solely’ on price stability, as monetary policy has ‘very limited ability’ to influence employment
BIS warns central banks to bite the bullet on monetary policy normalisation
BIS annual report says it may already be too late for a gradual exit from unconventional policy; warns markets may pre-empt exit if they feel central banks are behind the curve
Solomon Islands central bank publishes first working paper
Paper considers the efficacy of monetary targeting in Solomon Islands; finds evidence suggesting it is more effective than inflation targeting would be
Irish brief examines relationship between rate changes and bond yields
Economic letter published by the Central Bank of Ireland compares the impact of rate changes on bond yields in the eurozone and Switzerland
Polish paper finds ‘substantial decrease’ in impact of exchange rate on consumer prices
Researchers say the exchange rate channel of the monetary policy transmission mechanism has weakened, but inflation has become more responsive to interest rate changes
Bank of Uganda halves number of MPC meetings
Uganda’s central bank says ‘less frequent’ policy announcements will help businesses plan; MPC will now meet every other month
Macro-pru beats monetary policy for open-economy financial stability
IMF working paper uses open economy framework to show macro-prudential policies are more welfare-enhancing than interest rate rises in seeing off over-exuberance
French economists find UMP had ‘significant’ impact on sovereign yield spreads
Working paper breaks down the determinants of sovereign yield spreads in OECD countries; size of ECB’s balance sheet effects spreads differently across eurozone member states
Central Bank of Turkey cuts main rate as MPC sees inflation in decline
Bank lowers one-week repo rate by 75bp to 8.75%, its second consecutive rate cut, but says it is maintaining a ‘tight policy stance'
Sri Lankan central bank weighs impact of QE on emerging markets
Latest financial system stability review features box on QE; central bank suggests the damage caused by market reaction to the Fed taper outweighed the initial benefits
Central Bank of Hungary rate cut streak hits 23
Central Bank of Hungary cuts rates for the 23rd successive month; monetary council says ‘further cautious easing’ may follow, but suggests cycle will soon conclude
Carney clashes with parliamentarians over ‘unreliable' forward guidance
BoE governor defends suggestion earlier this month that interest rates could rise this year as MP likens central bank to ‘unreliable boyfriend' over changing guidance
Capital controls and exposure to China help EMs weather taper storm
IMF working paper isolates determinants of taper impact on emerging markets; finds capital controls, macro-prudential policies, and exposure to China can mitigate harm
IMF's Singh discusses ‘financial plumbing' issues as central banks leave ZLB
IMF's Manmohan Singh investigates issues around bank balance sheet regulations which may impact monetary policy options as central banks leave the zero lower bound