Monetary Policy
Mexican central bank board cuts policy rate
Rate-setting board unanimously votes for looser policies despite above-target inflation
Book notes: The political economy of the special relationship, by Jeremy Green
Unsatisfactory story about the decline and resurgence of the UK’s importance in the global financial system
Bank efficiency has little effect on Chinese monetary policy – Finnish paper
Chinese banks with very high or low loan-to-deposit ratios are most affected, researchers find
Riksbank revises up growth and inflation forecasts for 2021
Swedish central bank maintains stimulus; inflation not expected to approach target until 2023
Measuring the exceptional speed and scope of Covid-19 monetary policy
Policy actions during the first wave of the pandemic were extraordinary for their intensity, scope and speed. Other patterns also emerge on closer inspection
European central bankers see room for fiscal-monetary co-operation
Pandemic showed it was “critical” for both policies to work together, say central bank governors
Bailey defends BoE’s independence
Claims that buying government debt threatens independence are “entirely without merit”, governor says
BoE tells firms to prepare for negative rates
Preparation is not a signal that negative policy rates will be adopted, Bailey stresses
Eurozone inflation jumps to 0.9% in January
Analysts argue sharp increase was pushed by German tax increase and statistical changes
Reserve Bank of Australia launches A$100bn in new QE
Australian central bank surprises analysts with easing measure, despite more hopeful macroeconomic forecast
Netherlands Bank launches new website
Central bank structures new site around six main themes
IMF encourages Bahamas central bank to launch asset registry
Recent initiatives to manage credit have been hampered by bottlenecks, IMF report says
Colombian central bank holds rates under new governor
Interest rates remain at 1.75%, a record low; board split in a 5–2 vote
Bank of Mozambique hikes policy rate by 300 basis points
MPC cites Covid-19, conflict and natural disasters as it orders increase
RBI paper tracks impact of rising transparency on expectations
Research uses text mining to study changing degree of transparency at the RBI
Fed on hold in first policy meeting under Biden administration
Unanimous vote comes amid signs of possible further fiscal stimulus; new voting members join FOMC
Cross-border spillovers play key role in ECB’s bond purchases – DNB paper
Cross-border effects play a “dominant role” in PSPP’s effectiveness, say researchers
Bundesbank paper estimates effects of Fed’s QE policies
Purchases of private securities were most expansionary measure, researchers find
Talking to firms aids central banks at ‘turning points’ – BoC paper
Qualitative information is particularly useful when timely official data is lacking, authors say
ECB leaves stimulus unchanged
Lagarde says prompt implementation of EU-wide fiscal stimulus is key to eurozone recovery
Brazil’s MPC removes forward guidance
Rate-setting committee forecasts it will raise policy rate by 125bp during 2021
Research finds productivity impact from monetary policy
Paper sets out model of supply-side transmission channel, which can lead to flatter Phillips curve
Romanian central bank cuts rates as inflation falls
National Bank of Romania says inflation is below midpoint of target level