Monetary Policy
Fed minutes reveal growing rifts over forward guidance
Minutes show increased debate over whether forward guidance is being used correctly; two dissenters object to phrasing of policy statement
SNB speaks out against 'gold initiative'
Swiss National Bank rejects proposals to prevent it from selling gold; Jean-Pierre Danthine argues that ‘currency reserves that cannot be sold are not truly reserves’
New York Fed’s Potter fleshes out normalisation plans
Vice-president responsible for open market operations gives details on how the Fed will use interest on excess reserves and reverse repos to raise its interest rate
Netherlands Bank flags risk from ECB asset purchases
Markets are positive about the ECB's efforts to ease monetary policy, but unconventional measures carry the risk of pumping up asset bubbles, Dutch financial stability review warns
Bank of Russia sells $1.4 billion to prop up ruble
Central bank intervenes in foreign exchange market to support currency as it continues to slide against the US dollar; commentators split over prospect of rate hike
Ekholm leaves Riksbank for post in finance ministry
Dovish deputy quits her term early to become state secretary to Sweden's new finance minister; vocal critic of central bank's ‘lean against the wind' policy
Rates: BoJ maintains pace of asset purchases; RBA holds steady
Bank of Japan continues pace of asset programme despite some dissenters; RBA holds rates with growth persisting below target and signs of spare capacity
Significance of Swedish debt levels for Riksbank policy ‘exaggerated', says deputy
Per Jansson says expansive policy helped Sweden manage crisis better than many other countries; adds higher inflation is Riksbank's top priority
Polish paper examines impact of foreign currency loans
Foreign currency loans restrict the transmission of monetary policy to the real economy but do not have a 'significant' impact on efficacy of macro-prudential measures, paper finds
Central bank independence key focus of Brazilian elections
With the central bank’s autonomy a hot topic in the build-up to this weekend’s presidential elections, specialists are divided on the benefits of greater independence
Czech economy generating ‘noticeable inflationary pressures’
Czech National Bank board members point to ‘rapid’ rise in wages as indicator of inflationary pressures, but remain concerned by price developments in the eurozone
Lagarde sees black clouds over monetary policy normalisation
IMF managing director underlines risk of spillover effects as Fed winds down monetary easing; says ‘asynchronous’ normalisation could come back to bite advanced economies
IMF encourages Kenya central bank to set-up forecast unit
Staff report with Kenya praises the evolution of the central bank’s forecasting model and recommends creation of dedicated unit; wary of rising food prices and credit growth
Stronger pound has pushed down UK inflation rate, says BoE's Forbes
MPC member says 14.5% appreciation between March 2013 and July 2014 will have powerful effects on the UK economy over the coming quarters
ECB reveals details of asset purchases
Mario Draghi would not be drawn on the size of the asset and bond programmes, but said the ‘potential universe of purchases is up to €1 trillion’
NBP warns ECB-Fed mismatch may impair policy-making
Polish central bank says divergence of European and US monetary policy is likely to create problems for policy-makers elsewhere, especially in small, open economies
Rajan turns attention to 2016 inflation target
Reserve Bank of India holds key rates as headline inflation drops to 7.8%; Rajan says policy will be set to achieve 6% target by January 2016 from this point onwards
Brazil central bank director vows quick response to inflation
The monetary policy committee of the central bank will evaluate whether the interest rate needs to be raised to battle inflation, says director, and will act quickly if necessary
Greek governor wants to promote SME access to capital markets
Yannis Stournaras lists what he believes are the ‘key priorities’ needed to revive the supply of credit in the eurozone; backs ECB over regulation of asset-backed securities
Trinidad central bank hikes rates in response to Fed forward guidance
‘Altered expectations' over timing of US normalisation puts pressure on Caribbean economy; necessary to ‘enhance appeal' of currency, says central bank
Paper examines mismatch in Swedish job market
Swedish economy is adding job vacancies but increasing share of workforce have wrong skill-set, Riksbank article finds
BIS paper unveils refined measure for Chinese inflation
Joint effort by economists at the BIS and People’s Bank of China yields new measure of Chinese inflation, which authors say addresses issues with headline and core measures
Wheeler says NZ dollar strength is ‘unjustified and unsustainable’
Central bank governor outlines cost of high exchange rate but says NZ dollar is ‘susceptible to a significant downward adjustment over the coming six to nine months’
Fed normalisation could have ‘significant impact' north of the border, Canada deputy warns
Speeches by leading central bankers in Ottawa, Tokyo and St Louis highlight the stakes of looming Fed normalisation both within and outside the US