Monetary Policy
Fed’s arch hawk Hoenig to retire in the autumn
Hoenig reaches mandatory retirement age and will leave in October; selection committee established to ensure replacement is found in time to allow a smooth transition
St. Louis Fed’s Bullard: QE2 may have averted a liquidity trap
St. Louis Federal Reserve president James Bullard says second round of quantitative easing was better policy than promising an extended period of low interest rates
Plosser: stick with fed funds rate for exit
Philadelphia Federal Reserve’s Charles Plosser says federal funds rate would be more effective tool than interest on reserves in normalising monetary policy
Bernanke to brief the press
Federal Reserve to join Bank of England and European Central Bank in holding monetary policy press conferences
Danthine defends SNB FX intervention
Swiss National Bank governing board member Jean-Pierre Danthine says foreign exchange intervention was necessary to avoid deflationary risks
BoE's chief economist says global inflationary pressures prompted rate hike vote
Bank of England chief economist Spencer Dale says risks associated with global price pressures and prolonged periods of inflation were behind call to raise interest rates
Bank’s Sentance warns of misjudging spare capacity
Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee external member Andrew Sentance warns of difficulty in measuring spare capacity
Future of macro policy far from set, says IMF’s Blanchard
Exploration is the order of the day, IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard claims; predicts central role for behavioural economics
BoE rate-setters split four ways once more
Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee minutes shows three members continued to vote for rate hikes despite downward revision in fourth quarter of 2010 growth figures
Déjà vu and monetary policy: Lockhart’s recent comments
A lack of consideration for price pressures signals that Fed officials continue to misconstrue the nature of central bank independence, Thomas Cargill writes
Hungary revamps inflation report
National Bank of Hungary says enhancements will improve efficiency of monetary policy communications
BoJ study on adoption of spread-adjusted Taylor rule
Bank of Japan study lends support to use of spread-adjusted Taylor rules as suitable response to adverse macroeconomic shocks
QE helped boost broad money growth: BoE paper
Bank of England Q1 2011 Quarterly Bulletin says quantitative easing programme helped revive broad money growth during recession
Hungary selects final two external rate-setters
Hungarian parliament selects two external rate-setters to National Bank of Hungary’s Monetary Council, taking it to full capacity
Fund study on inflation volatility in West Africa
Fund study finds evidence of inflation uncertainty in West African Economic and Monetary Union members that experience high inflation
BoJ split over economic impact of rising commodity prices
Bank of Japan monetary policy minutes show divisions in policy board over seriousness of rising international commodity prices
Korea’s Kim on clash in balance of risks
Bank of Korea governor Choongsoo Kim says combination of strong upside and downside risks makes policy task increasingly challenging
Cyprus’s Orphanides on risk of activist approach to monetary policy
Central Bank of Cyprus governor Athanasios Orphanides warns use of monetary policy to attain objectives other than price stability may be harmful
Norges Bank - Monetary Policy Report (March 2011)
Norges Bank’s March 2011 Monetary Policy Report says executive board expects earlier rate hike on growing inflationary pressures
QE crystallised doubts surrounding dollar: US subcommittee speaker
US lawmakers and members of subcommittee on domestic monetary policy say Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing programme has reduced faith in dollar
UK inflation expectations rise
Bank of England survey on public attitudes to inflation show rise in inflation expectations
RBA minutes: rates on hold as temporary inflation effects dissipate
Minutes of RBA rate-setting meeting says inflationary effects of extreme weather conditions only short term; renewed focus on global inflation risks of higher oil prices
RBI group recommends switch to one-policy rate
Reserve Bank of India group on operating procedure of monetary policy says moving to one rate would be in line with global best practice
RBA paper estimates long-term inflation expectations
Reserve Bank of Australia study measures long-term inflation expectations in Australia