Monetary Policy
Ukrainian deputy director says economy is ‘enjoying’ deflation
Oleksandr Arseniuk says ‘low inflation environment’ – with CPI at -0.2% in January – is benefiting the Ukrainian economy
RBA minutes warn growth may wobble in 2013
Minutes suggest economy is struggling to rebalance away from mining as peak in resource investment approaches, but low inflation gives room for further rate cuts
BoE’s Weale warns of burgeoning inflation risk due to weak pound
Monetary Policy Committee member says further depreciation of the pound could push inflation further from its target, but the Bank of England might just have to weather the storm
European recovery stalls as UK politicians warn of complacency
Latest GDP figures reveal eurozone economy contracted by 0.5% in 2012; OECD calls for wider and stronger reform efforts
Bullard slams Fed’s 2012 policy
St Louis Fed president criticises ‘relatively weak’ Federal Reserve policy in 2012, but says new measures have now stepped easing up a gear
Serbian director hints at possible easing in coming months
Head of National Bank of Serbia’s research department sees inflationary pressure easing and the Serbian economy returning to growth; says this may prompt cuts in the near future
Japan holds rates as GDP drop leaves analysts unfazed
Bank of Japan to continue 'aggressive easing' as long as it judges it appropriate; analysts remain bullish despite fall in GDP last quarter
Fed paper examines costs of trend inflation variance
Study finds an increase in the volatility of trend inflation imposes a modest welfare cost on the economy
Unorthodox monetary policy would not suit Hungary, says paper
Research finds that unconventional central bank instruments have successfully eased market conditions in developed countries, but would have little impact in Hungary
Hungarian governor publishes open letter in spat with audit office
András Simor publishes letter after state audit office 'transgresses its authority' in a study into monetary policy
King insists economy must rebalance
Governor says Bank of England can still contribute to recovery but is running up an ‘ever steeper hill’; inflation report downbeat on growth and inflation prospects
Philadelphia Fed president wants forward guidance in ‘normal times’
Charles Plosser says helping the public understand how the Fed sets policy in normal times will make forward guidance at the zero lower bound more effective
Yellen says forward guidance is ‘good news for workers’
Fed vice-chair says unemployment is predominantly cyclical and can be allayed by increasing aggregate demand; forward guidance will help Fed boost demand without compromising price stability
Small economies' central bankers must be ‘exceptionally smart to succeed', says CNB
Small economies are 'event-takers' says Czech executive director, often dependent on external conditions set by economic policies of advanced economies
Buba’s Weidmann concerned by central bank politicisation
Bundesbank president says euro is not overvalued; finds Stiglitz comments on central bank independence 'concerning'
National Bank of Romania struggles to keep inflation on target
Romanian inflation remains outside target band despite negative output gap, with blame pointing to energy market developments among other factors
Polish paper extolls benefits of probability forecasts
Research finds forecasting technique that seeks to quantify the uncertainty surrounding economists’ predictions has ‘rich interpretation possibilities’
Stein says Fed could deploy monetary policy to cool credit markets
Jeremy Stein says imperfect regulatory tools may require monetary and macro-prudential policies to work in tandem if credit markets overheat, but spotting trouble is not straightforward
Norwegian paper suggests alternative to ‘conclusion-based’ interest rate decisions
Research examines the stories behind interest rate decisions; reveals benefits to voting on contributing elements as opposed to final level
ECB's Cœuré argues integrating SSM in ECB has benefits for monetary policy
Executive board member sees benefits to monetary policy in bringing supervisory mechanism into the ECB
Czech researchers examine factors behind monetary transmission lags
Working paper synthesises 67 quantitative studies of lags in monetary policy transmission, finding that financial development increases lags, but results may be biased by study design
Carney champions flexible inflation target
Bank of England’s governor-designate welcomes debate on monetary policy framework but says he strongly favours flexible inflation targeting
Draghi says markets should have final say on currency strength
ECB president re-affirms the central bank's independence; emphasises ‘accommodative' monetary policy, as governing council votes to hold rates again
UK’s Adair Turner advocates stimulus by ‘helicopter money’
Chairman of the UK’s Financial Services Authority says there are circumstances where monetary financing of government deficits is justified, calling for more serious discussion of the topic