Monetary Policy
India makes fresh attempt to spur growth
The Reserve Bank of India announced a fresh round of rate cuts on Wednesday aimed at restoring the health of its ailing economy.
Buba's focus on output-growth gap significant
The Bundesbank's response in 1970s and 1980s to the output-growth gap under monetary-growth targeting was highly significant, posits a new paper from the European Central Bank.
IMF staffer urges global effort to stem deflation
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) economist has called on central bankers to begin multilateral talks to stave off worldwide deflation.
Iceland selects chief economist for new MPC
Reykjavik appointed Thorarinn Petursson, the Central Bank of Iceland's acting chief economist, to its newly-created Monetary Policy Committee on Tuesday.
Canada lowers again, may boost money supply
The Bank of Canada cut its benchmark rate to a record low of 0.5% on Tuesday, saying that recent data had revealed a worse-than-expected slowdown. The central bank also said that it could raise the money supply through quantitative or credit easing.
Turkey justifies steep cut
The Central Bank of Turkey cut rates by 150 basis points last month on signs that inflation would undershoot its 7.5% target for this year, the minutes for the 19 February meeting reveal.
Morgan Stanley's Roach on central bank independence
The chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, a bank, argues that central banks have not made the most of their new-found independence
Nigeria agrees to house continental central bank
Africa took a step closer to creating a single central bank on Monday after it emerged that the African Union, a body devised to foster economic integration in the region, and Nigeria would sign an agreement to create a regional central bank in Abuja…
Avoid Tokyo's mistakes to combat deflation: Ito
Takatoshi Ito, a prominent economist, has urged global monetary authorities to learn from Japan's errors in order to successfully stave off a nasty bout of deflation.
Fears for zloty outweigh calls for cuts
The National Bank of Poland opted for a smaller-than-expected cut on Wednesday in a bid to maintain the value of the zloty. The move reflects the mounting concern among central and eastern European countries that marked currency depreciations could…
SA inflation dips as new gauge introduced
South African inflation plunged by more than two percentage points last month following the introduction of a new inflation basket.
Riksbank names new monetary policy deputy
Jesper Hansson, formerly the head of the monetary policy forecasting division of the Riksbank, is the new deputy head of the central bank's monetary department.
Romania wants to accelerate euro adoption
Bucharest is looking in to adopting the euro before the current target of 2014 in order to more closely link Romania's economy with other members of the European Union.
Riksbank's policymakers cut on worsening outlook
The Executive Board of the Riksbank unanimously backed a repo rate cut of 100 basis points to 1%, the minutes of the 10 February meeting reveal.
Denmark's incredible price stability
The past five centuries in Denmark have been dominated by price stability, posits a new paper from the National Bank of Denmark.
Malaysia reneges on pledge to hold firm
Bank Negara Malaysia has cut its benchmark rate by a further half a point despite indication earlier this month that it would hold back on further loosening.
Price target will settle expectations: Bernanke
The Federal Reserve's ushering in of an implicit inflation target should lead to more stable price expectations, the head of the central bank has said.
Transparency: too much of a good thing?
Too much monetary policy transparency can be bad, finds a new paper from the Bank of Japan.
CNB's Tuma not keen on bursting bubbles
Whether monetary policy to react to changes in asset prices still remains questionable, said Zdenek Tuma, the governor of the Czech National Bank.
How worried should we be about deflation?
Dean Baker argues that fears over deflation have been greatly exaggerated. Policymakers should rather focus on reducing risk premia
Interview: Kenneth Rogoff
The former chief economist of the IMF tells Malan Rietveld that central banks know how to generate inflation if needed and that there are bigger problems than deflation to be worried about
Fed gloomy on 2009, more bullish on 2010 and 2011
The Federal Reserve has reduced its forecast for economic growth this year, but has upgraded its projection for 2010 and 2011.
RBA explains February cut
Significantly lower forecast for domestic output growth than expected was behind the Reserve Bank of Australia's cut in the cash rate by 100 basis points to 3.25%, according to minutes of the February meeting.
Riksbank's Svensson solves liquidity-trap problem
Lars Svensson, the deputy governor of the Sveriges Riksbank, has devised what he has labelled a "foolproof way" to escape a liquidity trap.