Monetary Policy
European Court of Justice to rule on OMTs after German court ‘fudge'
German constitutional court finds ‘reasons to assume OMTs exceed the ECB's mandate', but asks Europe's top court in Luxembourg to take the final decision
Fed's Plosser wants to end asset purchases by summer
Philadelphia Fed president and FOMC member who voted for the Fed's ‘measured' $10bn taper in January reiterates earlier calls to scale back QE at ‘faster pace'
ECB holds rates despite continued disinflation
European Central Bank holds refinance rate at 0.25% and shuns additional policy instruments despite inflation falling to 0.7%; attention turns to updated and expanded staff forecasts in March
Bank of Ghana hikes rates and tightens forex controls in bid to defend currency
Central bank raises interest rates by 200bp to 18% at emergency meeting; follows yesterday's decree that all domestic transactions must be denominated in local cedi
Lagarde lends weight to global clamour for policy co-ordination
IMF managing director joins Rajan and others in renewed calls for monetary policy to take into account international spillovers, as Fed taper rocks emerging markets
‘Normal' Norway has no need of forward guidance, says monetary policy chief
Head of Norges Bank's monetary policy division says interest rate forecasts are all the forward guidance his country needs, as the crisis did not hit Norway to the same extent
Thailand MPC split over rate cut
Minutes from the policy-makers' January meeting show that a motion to cut rates in the face of growing political unrest was defeated by four votes to three
Reserve Bank of Fiji targets more effective communication
The central bank will build a new communications framework and resurrect plans for a financial stability report as part of its strategic outlook for 2014-18
Fed 'policy shocks' cause both dollar and foreign interest rates to fall, Boston Fed paper finds
Expansionary monetary policy shocks by the Federal Reserve leads to dollar depreciation, while similar 'unexpected expansionary announcements' by foreign central banks cause it to appreciate
Global lending conditions more connected than ever, says BIS's Turner
Big emerging market corporations are borrowing abroad, while global capital has been flowing into EMs – meaning lending conditions are more strongly connected than before
Bank of Ghana brings forward rate decision as falling currency feeds inflation
The central bank's monetary policy committee will meet tomorrow instead of February 19 following further weakening of the cedi; analysts expect rate increase of at least 100 basis points
RBA changes tune on cash and exchange rates
Reserve Bank of Australia hints at a ‘period of stability’ in interest rates and welcomes the weaker Australian dollar
Interest swaps with longer maturities more sensitive to macroeconomic news, DNB paper suggests
The impact in Sweden of macroeconomic news on the sensitivity of interest rate swaps was reduced at the effective zero lower bound at short maturities but not at longer maturities, according to paper
Global crisis weakened monetary policy transmission, Czech paper shows
New research from the Czech National Bank studies the transmission of monetary policy through different channels, finding it works as expected but was weakened in the financial crisis
Zimbabwe central bank aims to regain LORL and rate-setting powers
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe set to offer overnight lending to banks at a rate based on government debt yields from the end of March; will also begin issuing government treasuries
Eurozone crisis countries had to grasp the nettle of reform, says Cœuré
Delaying reforms until countries had emerged from the crisis would have been counterproductive, ECB board member says; effect of zero lower bound has been overstated, too
Central banks must lean against boom and bust to retain credibility, says Borio
A more symmetrical response to booms and busts is required to leave policy-makers with the ammunition and credibility to tackle them, says top BIS economist
Sint Maarten and Curaçao monetary union needs 'less political wisdom', more co-ordinated action
Emsley Tromp, president of the countries' shared central bank says monetary policy is helping to shrink persistent current account deficits but argues more co-ordinated action 'imperative'
Unanimous Fed decision to taper 'sets precedent'
FOMC scales back monthly purchases by another $10 billion, makes no mention of EM turmoil; unanimous decision seen as making dissent less likely in coming meetings
Kazakhstan experiences 10-year inflation low
Quarterly inflation falls to 0.6% in latest figures; National Bank of Kazakhstan predicts it will increase in the coming quarter but remain in check throughout 2014
RBNZ signals impending rate rise
Reserve Bank of New Zealand says it expects to increase the OCR ‘soon’ as inflationary pressures look set to increase over the next two years; today’s rate hold surprises markets
Russia 'welcomes' weaker currency as central bank sticks to float plan
Russian rouble is latest currency to be hit in emerging markets turmoil, but analysts believe the central bank will stick to its stated policy - or loosen their grip on the exchange rate
Carney lectures Scots on dangers of monetary union without fiscal union
Bank of England governor tells Edinburgh audience that successful currency union would need banking union, and would risk moral hazard without fiscal union
Turkey and South Africa shock markets with interest rate hikes
South Africa and Turkey join India in raising rates in the face of persistent inflationary pressures and sharp currency devaluations, ahead of the FOMC decision later today