Monetary Policy
Yam to join PBOC?
Joseph Yam, the chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), will join the People's Bank of China in the autumn, a local magazine has reported.
Latvia cuts to 4%
The Bank of Latvia cut its key rate by a full percentage point on Thursday in a bid to limit the scale of its economic contraction.
Russia cuts for second time in a month
The Central Bank of Russia chopped a half point off its key rate on Wednesday, little more than a fortnight after its last cut.
BoJ rate minutes: 7 April decision unanimous
Minutes of the 7 April monetary-policy meeting at the Bank of Japan, published on 8 May, show that the council unanimously supported the decision to leave the target rate at 0.1%.
India ex-finance minister calls for "massive" cuts
A former Indian finance minister has called on the Reserve Bank of India to cut rates drastically in order to buoy the country's flagging economy.
Chile cuts to record low
The Central Bank of Chile cut its benchmark rate to an all-time low of 1.25% on Thursday.
Canada's Carney stresses policy flexibility
The Bank of Canada retains considerable monetary-policy flexibility despite rates being near the zero bound, said Mark Carney, the governor of the central bank.
ECB steps up recession fight
The European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday announced a raft of measures, including outright purchases of corporate debt, to embolden its response to the eurozone recession.
Iceland cuts by 250bp, eases capital controls
The Central Bank of Iceland's Monetary Policy Committee chopped 250 basis points off its benchmark policy rate on Thursday. The cut, which leaves the rates at 13%, comes as the central bank agreed to relax some capital controls.
Bank expands quantitative easing by £50 billion
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee on Thursday increased the size of its quantiative easing programme by £50 billion ($75.2 billion) to £125 billion.
Central Bank of Iceland - Monetary Bulletin
In view of the uncertainty related to the global financial crisis, the Central Bank of Iceland's latest Monetary Bulletin has noted that capital controls must be removed cautiously.
China warns on QE inflation threat
The People's Bank of China has said that quantitative easing posed huge risks for international markets and the global economy.
SNB's Jordan: exit from zero-rate policy tricky
Pinpointing the optimal date for exiting from the current zero interest-rate policy of the Swiss National Bank will be critical, said Thomas Jordan, a member of the institution's Governing Board.
Riyadh to host regional central bank
Saudi Arabia's capital has been named as the location for the Gulf's regional central bank, after an eight-month delay.
The best methods for estimating trend inflation
Trend inflation forecasts estimated by the exclusion method and the principal component technique have strong predictive power on future changes in headline CPI or PCE inflation, new research from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority posits.
Norway cuts to a record low
Norges Bank on Wednesday cut its key rate by half a point to an all-time low of 1.5% on signs that the global recession was having an adverse impact on the domestic economy.
Renminbi's exchange-rate impacts China's trade
China's trade balance is sensitive to fluctuations in the renminbi's real effective exchange rate, new research from the Bank for International Settlements posits.
Brazil slows pace of easing
The Central Bank of Brazil cut its key interest rate for the third time this year to a record low of 10.25% on Wednesday.
NZ to keep rate at record low until end of 2010
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand followed the Bank of Canada's lead on Thursday and said it was likely to keep its benchmark rate at or below its current record low of 2.5% until the second half of 2010.
SA expected to continue easing after 100bps
The South African Reserve Bank acted in line with market expectations on Thursday by cutting 100 basis points off its main rate - a move which it is now forecast to repeat in May after the governor signalled the economy was in recession.
Trichet says shush on possible new tools
Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), has said that the Governing Council's omerta on interest rates a week before meetings must be extended to include possible additional tools that may be announced next Thursday.
Turkey on target to meet price goals
The Central Bank of Turkey believes it is on course to meet its inflation targets for the next three years.
Rate pledge already benefiting us: Canada's Carney
Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of Canada, has said that the central bank's unprecedented promise to hold rates at record lows until at least June 2010 was already having a positive effect on credit conditions in Canada.
A new model for inflation targeting
This International Monetary Fund paper presents a new model of inflation targeting, taking greater account of the importance of changes in the credibility of policymakers.