Monetary Policy
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
Central Bank of Peru revises annual growth and inflation rates downwards
Bank expects inflation, at 3% annualised in November, to converge to 2% target in 2014; IMF projects 2.5%, citing 'well-anchored expectations'
RBI rate hike is first step on ‘glide path’
Raghuram Rajan says the Urjit Patel committee has outlined an ‘appropriate’ path for reducing inflation, but insists today’s rate hike does not signal the adoption of a formal inflation target
Bangladesh Bank: inflation target ‘may prove challenging’
High food inflation and a pick-up in consumer demand could make it difficult for the Bangladesh Bank to restrain inflation to 7% for the 2014 fiscal year
PBoC commits to more market reform
The People’s Bank of China reiterates the importance of handing markets a ‘decisive role’ in resource allocation in the quest for sustainable economic growth; looks forward to 2014
Former Fed economists call on FOMC to dump Fed funds rate as main monetary policy tool
Joseph Gagnon and Brian Sack want the Fed to adopt the interest rate on its overnight reverse repo facility as its main policy tool and keep interest rate paid on bank reserves at same level
Draghi spells out QE possibilities
Mario Draghi says the European Central Bank could purchase banks' loans if they are packed in the ‘proper’ way, in contrast with market calls for GDP-weighted sovereign debt purchases
Central Bank of Turkey calls emergency meeting
Monetary policy committee will announce decision at midnight local time tomorrow night; expectations of rate hike see lira bounce back from record lows, but analysts remain cautious
Tombini says Brazil is ready for ‘welcome' exit from UMP
The end of unconventional monetary policy in advanced economies is a good sign for the world economy, says Central Bank of Brazil governor Alexandre Tombini
BoJ mulls ‘more thorough’ communication
Minutes from December meeting reveal policy board members’ concern over market scepticism towards the BoJ’s path back to 2% inflation; suggest clarifying reaction function
Bank of England will recalibrate forward guidance next month
Governor Mark Carney tells an audience in Davos he would prefer the next stage of forward guidance not to focus solely on unemployment, but on ‘overall conditions' in the economy
Major central banks phase out dollar liquidity operations
ECB, BoE, BoJ and SNB will start scaling back the amount of dollar liquidity they offer to market participants in April in response to waning demand
Banks with more interbank relationships meet liquidity needs ‘more efficiently’, finds Bundesbank paper
Discussion paper examines the link between interbank relationships and liquidity needs, using data from German banks’ use of ECB main refinancing operations
Downside risks to Canadian inflation put central bank in a quandary
Uncertainty over inflation's next move leaves Bank of Canada waiting for more information before it decides to move rates
Solomon Islands wins IMF support for ‘contractionary’ monetary policy
Central Bank of Solomon Islands maintains tight monetary policy in face of excess liquidity; IMF welcomes stance but tells authorities to implement a wider exchange rate band
BoE's Fisher says falling unemployment needn't mean rate rises
Bank of England's monetary policy committee must plot a course between choking off the recovery and allowing inflationary pressures to rise excessively, says head of markets Paul Fisher
RBI report recommends inflation target under new monetary policy framework
Committee set up by Raghuram Rajan in September calls for formal nominal inflation target of 4% to be phased in over two years; also recommends sweeping changes to bank's organisational structure
Vaguer guidance in vogue as unemployment continues to confound
As UK and US unemployment brushes the thresholds of monetary policy forward guidance, central banks' next moves are anything but straightforward
Turkish prime minister praises central bank rate hold as lira falls to record lows
PM's comments following bank's decision to keep rates at 7.75%, despite a sharp drop in the lira's value in the past month, raise questions about government's role in monetary policy decision-making
IMF says world economy menaced by US taper and eurozone deflation
Eurozone deflation should be combated by every means available to the ECB, IMF says; emerging market risks from US taper will be overshadowed by benefit from advanced economy growth
PBoC delivers on cash injection promises
People’s Bank of China uses standing lending facility and reverse repos to inject in excess of $37 billion into interbank market; releases statement to prepare market participants ahead of time
Portuguese paper finds banks lend to riskier borrowers when policy rates are low
Researchers find evidence supporting the existence of the ‘risk-taking channel’ of monetary policy; banks will grant more loans to companies with recent defaults when rates are lower