Monetary Policy
Bank of Israel cut rates despite 'rapid' increase in house prices
Four out of five members of the Bank of Israel's MPC backed last month's 25 basis point rate cut to 0.75% following weaker performance across range of indicators
ECB paper studies imbalances in major eurozone countries
Use of a new multi-country model demonstrates stimulus effects on aggregate demand from changes in interest rates at ECB-level 'are present but not overly large'
International perspective helps resolve domestic economic puzzles, says Canada deputy
Bank of Canada deputy governor John Murray underscores the importance of looking beyond borders when setting monetary policy
FOMC members discuss international spillovers of Fed monetary policy
Charles Plosser and Richard Fisher sound off on accommodating policies' impact on other countries, but make no promises of international considerations on FOMC
Stevens dismisses concerns over Australia’s higher inflation target
RBA governor and deputies grilled over appropriateness of higher inflation target than most advanced economies; questions also raised on credit growth, competitiveness and the move away from mining
ECB holds rates on back of ‘positive’ data
Mario Draghi attributes ECB inaction to improvement in economic data; new staff forecasts show inflation climbing to 1.7% only in the last quarter of 2016
Caruana calls on central banks to explain reaction functions
BIS general manager says central banks must manage expectations as they normalise monetary policy, partly by explaining how ‘policies might change as conditions evolve’
Russia boosts forex firepower as ruble weakness shifts inflation risks to upside
The Bank of Russia has quadrupled the amount it will spend to keep the ruble steady; inflation expected to stay low but central bank is alive to upside risks
Forward guidance ‘escape clause' increases effectiveness, says Colombian paper
Incorporating a threshold into forward guidance means central banks can change course when economic conditions dictate - meaning it is welfare-improving
Lithuania governor woos eurozone counterparts
Vitas Vasiliauskas meets central bank heads across eurozone to present Lithuania’s case for entry; Marek Belka calls for review of Poland’s euro prospects
Bank of Uganda warns loss of aid is ‘source of uncertainty’
Central bank says further exchange rate depreciation in the wake of the country's new anti-homosexuality law could create ‘stronger inflationary pressures'
Unorthodox monetary tools worked for Turkey, central bank research shows
The introduction of asymmetric interest rate corridor and ‘reserve option mechanism' has helped mitigate the impact of hot money flows, according to February papers
Nowotny calls on IMF to help address global spillovers
IMF surveillance function should be further developed to help overcome negative spillovers in an increasingly inter-connected world, Austria governor says
Russia hikes rates as Ukraine crisis brings financial volatility
The Bank of Russia raised rates by 150bp today in an emergency measure aimed at taming currency volatility; Ukraine brings in tighter forex controls
Fed transcripts reveal forecasting travails
Crisis year transcripts reveal extent to which the Federal Reserve struggled to predict the depth of recession and deflation, raising questions about the usefulness of underlying models
ECB ‘obliged' to introduce OMT to defend price stability, Draghi tells Bundesbank
ECB president Mario Draghi tells a Bundesbank symposium in Frankfurt that OMTs build on the doctrine adhered to by the German central bank for several decades
Permanent drop in UK risk-free rate suggests lower interest rates the 'new normal'
Bank of England's David Miles says lower returns on safe assets prompted by changed risk perceptions will keep bank's benchmark rate below historic average
Yellen hits back at critics over 'discriminatory' treatment of foreign banks
Following EU complaints, Fed chair tells Senate panel that new regulations are essentially the same as those faced by US banks abroad; Bitcoin is outside Fed's remit
FX Invest Europe: Deutsche Bundesbank official praises Fed’s QE exit strategy
Christine Glockmann says other central bankers may copy Fed’s communication over QE tapering; says eurozone economic policy suffers from member states 'bickering'
Blanchard leads calls for more ‘democratic input’ in central bank decision-making
Viral Acharya, Olivier Blanchard, Richard Fisher, Otmar Issing and Klaas Knot debate new ‘paradigm’ of central banks with ever more responsibilities; Blanchard prescribes an injection of democracy
Markets see PBoC hand in RMB depreciation
The sharp fall in the RMB at the end of February is thought to have been a deliberate action by China’s central bank to engineer the development of a two-way market in the currency
Weidmann says macro-prudential instruments should be a ‘political top priority’
Bundesbank president says macro-prudential instruments should be prepared urgently; points out flaws in attaching greater importance to the financial sector when setting monetary policy
Iceland MPC fears debt relief package will boost inflation
Central Bank of Iceland frets over economic impact of government's plan to relieve 100,000 households of $1.32 billion in debt
Central Bank of Brazil hike 'signals end' to year-long tightening cycle
Central bank raises benchmark Selic rate by 25 basis points to 10.75% in move that analysts say means a lower peak is probable