Monetary Policy
Eurozone fears spread worldwide
Indonesia drops rate in surprise move, Lithuania and Mexico slash growth forecasts as the UK prepares for “Armageddon”
Negative monetary policy effects from declines in pledgable collateral: IMF paper
Fund study says reuse of pledgable collateral by banks and dealers contributed to dry-up of liquidity during global financial crisis
Canada announces renewed inflation target range
Canadian government and central bank announce renewal of the inflation-control target for the central bank; goal to remain the 2% mid-point of a 1-3% range
Bank of England is ‘monetising the deficit’ with QE – Monetary Policy Forum
Former BoE employees agree the latest round of quantitative easing in the UK could be seen as a way of monetising the deficit; panellists stress Greece’s exit from the euro would be catastrophic
Carney takes aim at shadow banking activity
New Financial Stability Board chairman emphasises fight against shadow banking institutions; says global liquidity fluctuations are damaging financial stability
Philippines re-launches economic and financial learning centre
Central Bank of the Philippines reopens economic and financial learning centre in its Cabanatuan Branch Office; education activities continue throughout the country
Time for timidity has passed, says Lagarde
Christine Lagarde calls for action from developed and emerging economies; tells Russia to rebuild fiscal buffers
Central banks react to eurozone situation
Denmark and Romania lower benchmark rates and Australia lowers growth expectations; all point to continuing eurozone uncertainty as key decision-making factor
Build-up of euro area risks necessitated further stimulus: BoE’s Bean
Bank of England deputy governor Charlie Bean explains Monetary Policy Committee’s decision to restart its quantitative easing programme
Draghi announces rate cut amid fears of mild recession
European Central Bank president Mario Draghi marks inaugural Governing Council press conference with 25 basis point rate cut; ECB reveals details of covered bond scheme
Brazilian politicians take on inflation-targeting mandate
Bill to alter Central Bank of Brazil's inflation target mandate passes Senate Economic Affairs Committee; discussion flares-up as to whether central bank is already employing a mulit-target mandate
Risk USA: US regulators “scared to death” by eurozone debt crisis
The sovereign debt crisis is a concern, but direct US bank exposure is manageable, says senior OCC official
Bernanke faces tough questions at press conference
Federal Reserve chairman tackles queries on monetary policy impact, Europe and political pressure; only recently started holding post-FOMC press conferences
Carney explains Canada-US price gap narrowing
Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney discusses drivers of price differentials between the Canadian dollar and US dollar
BoE paper identifies large variation in UK price behaviour
Bank of England study shows significant variation in probability of price changes in microeconomic studies into UK consumer price index
IMF stresses importance of central banks’ role in macro-prudential policy use
IMF releases research into macro-prudental tools; stresses importance of central banks’ roles in using policy to fend off financial crises
BoE paper identifies strong habit-formation in savings
Bank of England study finds length of precautionary savings incentive during periods of volatility is often underestimated in monetary policy models
RBA cuts rates on weak global growth outlook
Reserve Bank of Australia drops interest rates by 25 basis points as inflation outlook improves and concerns over recovery in global demand mounts
Japan's Shirakawa explains QE expansion
Bank of Japan governor Masaaki Shirakawa says the central bank’s latest round of quantitative easing was due to delay in return to price stability
BoJ provides more scope to ease policy
Bank of Japan amends terms and conditions of asset purchase programme to enable further room for monetary easing as yen hits five-year high
High inflation risks further trend drift: Fed paper
Federal Reserve study shows above-average inflation levels have led to periods of uncertainty over trend inflation
Lira strengthens as Turkey cuts reserve ratio
Central Bank of Turkey continues battle with falling lira and reduces its reserve requirement ratio by 210 basis points
Korea and China renew currency swap deal early
People’s Bank of China and Bank of Korea agree to renew and expand currency swap arrangement; also discuss converting swap currencies into reserves
Estonia sounds clear warning on Europe crisis contagion
Eesti Pank says strain is growing in Estonia as eurozone crisis spreads to other areas of the region; asks banks to pay close attention to capital levels