Monetary Policy
Israeli paper examines price-setting behaviour
Research finds that consumer prices in Israel are ‘moderately sticky’ and only change every 6 to 9 months; finds inflation expectations impact pricing behaviour more than actual inflation
Mark Carney era underway at Bank of England
Expectations are high the new Bank of England governor will introduce forward guidance; academics point out he will first need to win over a divided MPC
Impact of yen depreciation on Asian trade ‘not all that simple’, says BoJ board member
Weaker yen could benefit Japan's Asian trade partners due to cheaper 'intermediates', says BoJ’s Shirai
Top Fed officials speak out to calm markets
Two Federal Reserve governors and the New York Fed president emphasise a change in monetary policy will be driven by data, not the date; further easing remains a possibility
Fed's Stein clarifies unemployment ‘threshold' for rate change
Permanent FOMC voter seeks to provide extra clarity over Bernanke statement last week; emphasises that interest rates could stay at rock-bottom even if unemployment falls to 6.5%
IMF plans overhaul of assistance to central banks and governments
Policy paper lays out plans for ‘single strategy’ combining technical assistance and training; pilot programme for new Capability Assessment Program aims to improve monetary and fiscal policy
Hungarian inflation bound for 3% target after central bank cuts again
Hungarian National Bank cuts benchmark interest rate by 25bp for 11th successive meeting; forecasts that inflation will pick up in 2014 and hit target the following year
Caruana backs Bernanke taper timetable but warns banks to prepare for volatility
BIS general manager says Fed chairman Ben Bernanke was right to signal a tightening of monetary policy but warns stress tests will be needed to prepare banks for an increase in volatility
ECB paper considers how to conduct monetary policy without interest rates
Occasional paper studies development of Islamic finance in Europe, including the difficulties inherent in setting monetary policy given that sharia bans interest rates
RBNZ deputy threatens use of loan-to-value restrictions to curb housing demand
Grant Spencer says interest rate hike would not be an 'appropriate response' to strong housing demand while macro-prudential intervention could be effective
Monetary policy links to financial stability ‘are not straightforward', says Fed paper
Research paper from Fed's Finance and Economics Discussion Series finds monetary policy and financial stability concerns can be complementary - but the connections are complex
BoE MPC member says QE has worked, and exit need not cause turbulence
David Miles says opponents of QE are overly pessimistic, and research he has been conducting suggests it ‘might well be part of an optimal monetary policy strategy'
Central bank statistics departments facing multiple strains, says ECB’s Schubert
Meeting new monetary, micro-prudential and macro-prudential data requirements is a major burden for central bank statistics departments, says ECB statistics head Aurel Schubert
Cœuré says ECB will not tighten ‘in near future’
ECB executive board member Benoît Cœuré says the prospect of tighter monetary policy in the eurozone remains distant; calls recent bout of market volatility ‘excessive’
King defends Bernanke over communication of Fed policy
Bank of England's Mervyn King says Fed chairman Ben Bernanke could ‘hardly have been clearer’ over future of monetary policy; vents his frustration at slow pace of economic reforms
Financial institutions must prepare for higher interest rates, says Carney
Incoming Bank of England governor calls for ‘continued vigilance’ to avoid the financial system being caught out by volatility and interest rate rises caused by an exit from easy monetary policy
QE was ‘a step in the dark’, Rajan tells BIS
Former IMF chief economist says decision to engage in quantitative easing was based on little evidence and influenced by politics, while the full consequences remain unclear
PBoC maintains hard line on liquidity
People’s Bank of China insists there is a ‘reasonable’ level of liquidity in financial sector and says commercial banks are responsible for their own levels of reserves
Reserve Bank of Fiji turned to unconventional monetary policy in wake of last year’s ‘devastating’ floods
Central bank forced commercial banks to lend to agriculture and renewable energy sectors; provided funds to affordable housing projects
Central banks need to start tightening policy, says BIS
The Bank for International Settlements says easy monetary policy has reached the end of what it can usefully do, warning that continuing QE will exacerbate risks and delay necessary reforms
PBoC leaves banking sector sweating over liquidity squeeze
Tight credit conditions persist as the People’s Bank of China remains silent about liquidity injections into increasingly strained banking sector
Bangladesh governor targets stronger debt market
Atiur Rahman concerned by public and private sector reliance on bank funding, but says government should wait until after elections to issue first sovereign bond denominated in US dollars
Fed's monetary policy deviates from best practice, says Bullard
Fed monetary policy has deviated from central bank best practice and should be used ‘to meet policy objectives, not calendar objectives', says St Louis Fed president
BoE's King says expectations less important than economic conditions
Bank of England governor says focus should be on creating the right economic conditions for normalising monetary policy rather than talking people through it