Monetary Policy
Paul Collier on central bank leadership, flawed policy and SWFs in Africa
More African central banks are moving towards inflation targeting, but Paul Collier tells Tom Bowker they should not mindlessly follow Western policy and may need to live with volatile inflation.
Paul Volcker on inflation, QE exit and monetary system flaws
Paul Volcker speaks with Robert Pringle about his experiences in defeating inflation, responses to the current financial crisis, QE exit and flawed discipline in the international monetary system.
ECB's Mario Draghi faces ongoing German ‘angst’
ECB president to face further German resistance on interest rates, banking union and OMTs – with Germany’s constitutional court ruling likely more problematic than some observers believe.
The case for hedging reserves portfolios with futures contracts
Central banks may still be able to hedge their bond and money market portfolios against rises in interest rates. Elisa Vilorio makes a case for using interest rate futures.
FOMC's Lockhart expects rate hike in second half of 2015
Atlanta Fed president believes QE will be 'completely phased out' by the end of 2014, but cautions it may take months to determine whether the US is on a 'sustained growth path'
RBA says low rates appropriate for 'some time yet'
The Reserve Bank of Australia sees evidence of the effects of 'substantial' monetary stimulus, but also says economy continues to face 'significant headwinds'
Monetary and macro-prudential co-ordination works well when pulling in same direction
Monetary and macro-prudential policy co-ordination brings benefits when they are both aiming at the output gap, but not when the regulator emphasises financial stability
FX lending in China tops $1 trillion, new BIS figures show
BIS's Robert McCauley estimates FX loans to China hit $1 trillion last year, though the recent renminbi depreciation may now cause lenders to think twice
FOMC should be more explicit about its reaction function, says Plosser
Federal Reserve Bank of Phladelphia president Charles Plosser says 'simple, robust rules' can provide useful guidance for FOMC policy
Bank of Zambia moves to quarterly MPC meetings
Central bank reduces number of planned MPC meetings each year in an effort to produce ‘more meaningful’ analysis with a ‘longer time perspective’
Tarullo addresses Dodd-Frank's impact on mid-sized banks
The Fed governor notes these lenders 'vary enormously in size' and bridge current $50bn bar for enhanced prudential supervision; suggests 'line might be better drawn' at $100bn
Yellen says Fed's balance sheet will shrink ‘considerably'
Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen hints central bank may stop rolling over QE principal as early as next year; denies that Fed policies have exacerbated inequality by ‘goosing' stock market
New Zimbabwe governor demands transparency
John Mangudya backs planned reform at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and calls for a more ‘transparent and responsible’ institution
BoJ has increased income inequality, says Dutch paper
Researchers at The Netherlands Bank say the Bank of Japan’s asset purchases have contributed to the country’s income inequality by pushing up asset prices
Draghi points to ECB action next month
European Central Bank holds rates but is ‘comfortable’ with the prospect of easing monetary policy following next month’s economic forecasts
IMF pushes Kazakhstan to modernise monetary policy
The National Bank of Kazakhstan should widen its exchange rate band and adopt ‘more effective’ interest rate instruments, the IMF says
Jeremy Stein casts doubt on Fed's communication strategy
The governor, who steps down later this month, says he failed to appreciate how challenging communicating monetary policy can be before joining the Fed
RBNZ’s Wheeler threatens currency intervention
Graeme Wheeler spells out the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s concern over its ‘overvalued’ currency, and says the central bank would consider intervening
Yves Mersch says EU treaty change could entrench monetary and banking union
Changing the EU treaties could, according to Mersch, help strengthen the institutional framework underpinning the Economic and Monetary Union
Central Asia's central banks should shift attention to communication strategies – IMF
While some central banks in the Caucasus and Central Asia ‘require further development of instruments', others may ‘shift attention to communication strategies
OECD urges ECB to cut key rate
The OECD chief economist calls on the European Central Bank to cut its main refinance rate to zero and prepare for ‘additional non-conventional stimulus’
Bangladesh Bank governor hails SME finance initiative
Central bank funding for SME lending has seen loans to small businesses grow in absolute terms, and as a share of bank lending, since 2010
China should adopt new intermediate target for monetary policy, say IMF economists
Economists at the IMF analyse demand for money in China and conclude the PBoC would be better off targeting interest rates in the economy rather than monetary aggregates
Central bankers give mixed review of BoE forward guidance
One third of respondents to CentralBanking.com poll say the Bank of England’s second phase of forward guidance is an admission that its first attempt was a failure