Monetary Policy
Riksbank on hold despite above-target inflation
Central bank is cautious about moving too fast amid sluggish hikes elsewhere
ECB to reduce monthly asset purchases to €30 billion
Central bank extends QE by nine months until September 2018, and keeps rates unchanged
Brazil’s central bank slows pace of monetary easing
Central bank scales back cuts to 75bp with suggestion it will slow pace further moving forward; inflation continues to fall as forecast
ECB likely to extend QE despite stronger growth, analysts say
Central bank expected to prolong programme by six months at reduced monthly rate of €30 billion
Argentina raises interest rates in pursuit of lower inflation
Despite declining core inflation, higher fuel prices could pose a threat to the central bank’s 2018 target; central bank raises rates to 23.75%
Sri Lanka working to introduce ‘proactive’ policy – governor
Central bank in the past tended to do “too little, too late”, leading to big swings in interest rates, says Coomaraswamy
QE and negative deposit rates have increased lending – ECB
Sub-zero deposit rate has created small boost, but only 10% of banks report higher lending volumes due to negative rates
RBNZ faces mandate review under new government
Coalition agreement retains Labour pledge to consider shake-up of Reserve Bank mandate
Bank of Israel grapples with low inflation
Latest figure is a welcome exit from deflation but the central bank does not expect prices to be back on target until 2018
RBA needs representative for the poor – religious group
The proposed new board member would help the central bank understand the effect monetary policy has on the poor, says group
Fiscal policy shocks amplified by accommodative monetary policy – paper
IMF research analyses impact of government spending spillovers, noting effects are amplified in countries with interest rates near the lower bound
Goldfajn stresses current target remains ‘credible’
Central bank pushed back against calls for the target to be raised during 2016 debate
Higher rates contributed to recovery in Latin America – IDB economist
Less hawkish policies can fail to generate growth but push up inflation, research finds
Inflation target supports price setting and wage formation – Ohlsson
Target contributed to economic recovery in Sweden, Riksbank deputy governor says
BoE’s new MPC members disagree on future path of hikes
New deputy Dave Ramsden sees current degree of slack to be too great to warrant removal of stimulus, while Tenreyro believes it cannot “persist for too long”
Williams: weak productivity, population growth keep rates low
The “new normal” implies a federal funds rate at 2.5%, says San Francisco’s John Williams
BoE paper sheds light on global policy transmission
Comparison of UK and Hong Kong based on bank-level data finds evidence of both portfolio and funding effects
Fed’s Powell: normalisation will be ‘manageable’ for emerging markets
Fed governor says current capital flows appear to be in line with fundamentals; corporate debts a vulnerability but “situation is not alarming”