Monetary Policy
Spain's Ordonez - monetary policy to blame
Miguel Fernandez Ordonez, the governor of the Bank of Spain, has blamed central banks' reluctance to raise rates in the wake of the dotcom crash as the principal cause of the current crisis.
SNB and Poland arrange currency swap
The Swiss National Bank and the National Bank of Poland on Friday agreed a currency swap facility to compensate for a lack of Swiss franc liquidity.
RBNZ to operate TAF to avert liquidity crunch
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand on Friday said it will follow the Federal Reserve's lead in establishing a Term Auction Facility (TAF) operation to enhance liquidity.
Korea cuts for second time in a fortnight
Bank of Korea chopped a quarter-point off its key rate on Friday on signs of a further weakening in domestic economic activity.
Focus of monetary policy research often misplaced
The focus on determinacy in recent monetary policy research is misplaced, Bennett McCallum, an economics professor at Carnegie Mellon University, argues.
Bank shocks with steepest cut for 24 years
The Bank of England on Thursday lopped one-and-a-half basis points off its benchmark rate for the first time since August 1984, confounding expectations of a far less severe move.
Czechs surprise with 75 basis-point cut
The Czech National Bank slashed its key rate by 75 basis points to 2.75% on Thursday on signs inflation risked falling below target next year.
ECB, SNB cut by 50 basis points
The European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday lopped a quarter point off its key rate and indicated further cuts were likely. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) also cut the upper and lower bounds by the same margin.
BoJ minutes: growth sluggish
Japan's economic growth has been sluggish, reflecting earlier rises in energy and materials prices and weaker exports, say the minutes of the Bank of Japan's Monetary Policy Council meeting on 6 and 7 October.
Norway's Qvigstad on the benefits of transparency
Central bank transparency improves the quality of both communication and the decision-making process, said Jan Qvigstad, the deputy governor of the Norges Bank.
Riksbank board unanimous on cut
The executive board of the Riksbank unanimously backed a lowering of the repo rate by 50 basis points to 3.75%, the minutes of the 22 October meeting reveal.
BoJ head hints at bubble-bursting role for rates
Masaaki Shirakawa, the governor of the Bank of Japan, has indicated that monetary policy should act on asset-price bubbles.
Bank to cut by 100 basis points?
The Bank of England will likely cut rates by a full percentage point on Thursday, some leading City of London economists believe.
Fed acts to enforce benchmark target
The Federal Reserve has moved to correct the disparity between its federal funds target and actual rates by raising the amount of interest paid on excess reserves held at the central bank.
Turkey explains October hold
The Central Bank of Turkey's rate-setting committee in October decided to keep rates on hold as the intensification of the financial turmoil called for a cautious approach, the minutes of the meeting reveal.
Inflation targets flexible and resilient
Inflation targeting has proved fairly flexible and resilient, research from the Boston Federal Reserve states.
SARB "distinctly dovish" in latest policy review
South African Reserve Bank on Tuesday adopted a dovish tone in its latest Monetary Policy Review, saying inflation was likely to fall sharply towards the 3%-6% target range in the new year.
RBA slashes rates to five-year low
The Reserve Bank of Australia on Tuesday shocked markets with a sharper-than-expected rate cut of 75 basis points.
Lira's decline won't trigger inflation
The recent depreciation of the Turkish lira will be largely offset by the disinflationary impact of the fall in food and energy prices and weakening domestic demand, states the latest Inflation Report of the Central Bank of Turkey.
Ex-PBoC deputy questions policy after Beijing cut
Wu Xiaoling, a former deputy governor at the People's Bank of China, has said the central bank should not loosen monetary policy further after the institution cut rates and relaxed loan conditions last week.
India acts on stability fears
The Reserve Bank of India has cut rates for the second time in a fortnight and introduced a raft of liquidity measures to shore up financial stability.
Oil price plunge prompts Iraqi cut
The Central Bank of Iraq has cut its benchmark rate by a full percentage point to 15% days after the governor warned that the dismal global outlook and the slump in oil prices could drag the country into recession.
Bank of Japan split on rate cut
Bank of Japan policymakers were divided in making the first cut in more than seven years on Friday. The central bank lowered its overnight lending rate from 0.5% to 0.3% due to a "severe" adjustment in the world economy.
Blanchflower: I told you so on rate cut
David Blanchflower, an external member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), criticised his fellow committee members for not taking a forward-looking approach, which meant rates had stayed too high too long.