Monetary Policy
SF Fed's Yellen: rates may have to burst bubbles
Janet Yellen, the president of the San Francisco Federal Reserve, has acknowledged that rate hikes may be necessary to counter asset-price bubbles, challenging a central tenet of the Greenspan-era Fed and her own previously-held views.
Euro adoption sparked some structural reforms
The adoption of the euro accelerated the pace of structural reforms in the product market, a research paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) posits.
Inflation targeting not enough: BoE's Barker
Kate Barker, a member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has acknowledged that inflation targeting alone cannot produce economic stability.
More easing needed in New Zealand: OECD
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand should cut its policy rate by a further percentage point to 2% in order to stimulate the domestic economy, said the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on Thursday. The views contrast with those…
Bosnia eases reserve requirements
The Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday moved to relax its monetary stance in a bid to encourage banks to lend more.
De Grauwe labels Maastricht rules political tools
The Maastricht criteria for euro adoption are political instruments, not economically-vital measures, a respected economist has said.
ECB dissenter Orphanides heralds deflation threat
Athanasios Orphanides, the governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus and a staunch advocate of a looser monetary-policy stance, has warned of the increasing threat of the eurozone deflation.
Bank of England holds on quantitative easing
The Bank of England has opted to wait and see what impact its quantitative easing programme is having before pledging a further boost to the money supply.
FOMC views differ on scale of asset purchases
Senior Federal Reserve officials disagree on the amount of Treasuries and mortgage-agency debt the central bank should buy, minutes of the last Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) show.
Nigeria cuts for first time in seven months
The Central Bank of Nigeria sliced 175 basis points off its key interest rate on Thursday with the scarcity of credit outweighing concerns over inflation.
Iceland cuts by 150 basis points
The Central Bank of Iceland cut its policy rate by one and half basis points to 15.5% on Wednesday, the second cut in less than a month.
UK opposition moots change to BoE price target
Britain's main opposition party has indicated that it will review the Bank of England's inflation target if it comes to power.
ECB's policy rule does not fit all
Euro policy rates best fit the largest eurozone members, research from the Bank of Finland posits.
Monetary nonneutrality hard to explain
Imperfect information cannot explain the substantial degree of monetary nonneutrality, money affecting real variables, finds new research from the Bank of Canada.
Plans for GCC central bank veer off track
Gulf states have yet to decide on the location of a regional central banking hub almost seven months after they were scheduled to announce the hub's site.
Depth of Icelandic cut limited on krona concern
Members of the Central Bank of Iceland's monetary policy committee decided unanimously to cut the key policy rate by a full percentage point to 17% but resisted a steeper move owing to caution about the impact on the currency, the minutes for the 17 and…
Long-run forecasts a good anti-deflation tool
The Federal Open Market Committee's new long-run inflation forecast reduces the chance of a deflationary spiral, a new paper form the San Francisco Federal Reserve posits.
A model for market expectations about inflation
The Bank of Spain has devised a new model for market expectations about the inflation rate.
Monetary union could improve British stability
The British economy's stability would be enhanced by euro adoption, a new paper from the St Louis Federal Reserve posits.
Euro inflation at new low, OECD wants more easing
The OECD on Tuesday urged the European Central Bank (ECB) to cut rates further and apply quantitative easing in a bid to stave off a severe economic contraction. The calls came as it emerged eurozone annual inflation in March had dropped to its lowest…
Turkey justifies cut to record low
The Central Bank of Turkey cut rates by 100 basis points to an all-time low earlier this month on signs that the global economic outlook continued to deteriorate and the depression was expected to be long lasting, the minutes for the 19 March meeting…
Zimbabwean prices stabilise after dollarisation
Zimbabwe's Central Statistical Office has announced that prices in the ravaged Southern African nation have started to fall since the adoption of the US dollar.
Sharp decline in inflation a plus - RBI's Subbarao
The sharp decline of India's headline inflation is an advantage for the country's policymakers as they respond to the current economic conditions, said Duvvuri Subbarao, the governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
More interest-rate info from Chile's De Gregorio
As part of its process of increasing transparency, the Central Bank of Chile has improved the level of detail of interest rate information being made available, said Jose De Gregorio, the governor of the Central Bank of Chile.