Monetary Policy
Riksbank policy-makers differ 'fundamentally' on role of central bank, says deputy governor
Sveriges Riksbank deputy says policy approach is marginally beneficial at best and risks undermining 'public confidence' in central bank's targeting of inflation
Leaning against the wind does more harm than good, warns Svensson
Former Riksbank deputy Lars Svensson argues higher interest rates to combat asset bubbles and financial instability have the opposite effect by raising the real debt burden of households
Norges Bank deputy discusses institutional underpinnings of central bank activities
Jan Qvigstad highlights the importance of institutions in facilitating payments in an era when money lacks intrinsic value; chides Argentinian government for meddling with statistics
Finnish deputy outlines credibility triad
Pentti Hakkarainen says a central bank’s financial position, legal independence and communications all influence the credibility, and therefore efficacy, of its monetary policy
Latvia central bank brings rates and rules in line with eurozone
Bank of Latvia slashes rates to match ECB's ultra-low 0.25%; economists say the move, along with new regulations, was designed purely to ready the country to join the eurozone in January
ECB's Asmussen defends 'unorthodox measures' in pursuit of 'orthodox objectives'
Executive board member highlights distinction between policy goals and instruments; says LTROs, OMTs and forward guidance crucial to ensure monetary transmission and hit inflation target
UK data boost could spell early end to BoE forward guidance
Inflation report out today predicts consumer price inflation will reach 2% target sooner than predicted after sharp drop in October; revised forecast on unemployment may undermine forward guidance
Spanish economist urges IMF to complete its ‘metamorphosis’
Bank of Spain economic study says the International Monetary Fund needs to test its new surveillance and lending policies before it can take its place as the ‘guarantor’ of the new economic order
Collateral could be useful tool at zero lower bound, says ECB paper
Working paper shows broader collateral eligibility makes funding conditions easier for banks; notes this could be useful for policy, but central banks should not forget sound risk management
Minneapolis paper finds stable Phillips curve in regional data
Researchers find relationship between unemployment and inflation holds in regional data but breaks down at national level; suggest this could be used for policy-making
Bank Indonesia's surprising rate hike to mitigate worse-than-expected trade deficit data
Unexpected rate hike leads economists to fear worse data is on its way; 'deficit problem could be more serious than markets expected', says DBS economist
RBI's independence under threat, says former chief general manager
Grace Koshie says proposed changes could give the government greater involvement in the Reserve Bank of India’s operational areas; warns other central banks' legal independence is being ‘altered’
RBA's Debelle backs Mundell-Fleming model
Reserve Bank of Australia assistant governor tells IMF annual conference that recent papers have failed to convince him to abandon traditional models of exchange rate effects
Fed retains credibility following forward guidance, says Dutch paper
Dutch researcher says the Federal Reserve’s forward guidance resulted in a ‘significant reduction’ in Treasury yields as a whole, but did not change the relationship between real and nominal yields
RBA monetary policy statement says currency is too strong
Depreciation of the Australian dollar to the start of August has since been undone by the postponed Fed taper and positive Chinese data; weaker dollar will be needed to achieve balanced growth
'Bold' ECB cuts rates as low inflation settles in
Mario Draghi surprises markets by announcing a cut in the main refi rate in face of falling inflation; opinion differs on whether this is the ECB's last throw of the dice
Czech central bank starts targeting exchange rate
Czech National Bank finally says it will start intervening in the forex market, a year after it cut rates to the zero lower bound; Czech koruna almost hits target level straight after announcement
Pianalto confident housing market on road to recovery
It was the housing market that ‘got us into this situation', Cleveland Fed president says - but nevertheless a recovery in the overall economy will translate through to a housing rebound
BoE's Kohn stresses predictable nature of FPC ‘knockout'
Financial Policy Committee member Donald Kohn tells Oxford audience the Bank of England's new macro-prudential powers should allow monetary policy to act more effectively
Senior Fed staff consider further stimulus
Two of the Federal Reserve’s top economists have produced papers outlining the merits of ‘highly accommodative’ monetary policy, including a lower unemployment threshold
Fed has moved ‘considerably closer’ to flexible inflation target, paper finds
Federal Reserve researchers say the central bank has moved closer to a flexible inflation targeting framework through a series of steps taken to improving the communication of its policy objectives
Fall in OECD inflation highlights advanced economy monetary policy dilemmas
New OECD figures show lower annual inflation rates despite Japanese CPI turning positive; pressure mounts on ECB and Fed to counteract trend, but analysts unsure with what tools
Dollarisation and institutional weakness hamper Congolese monetary policy
IMF paper highlights 'fiscal dominance' and 'lack of authority' as among reasons for central bank's ineffectiveness; strengthening current policy framework remains 'first-best option'
Fed reaction function shift helped support recovery, research finds
NY Fed research finds markets viewed ‘calendar’ forward guidance as a more dovish approach to policy, supported by comments from FOMC members; ECB and BoE both denied such a move in own guidance