Monetary Policy
China official mulls freer hand for central bank
According to this article from the Financial Times, published Friday 28 July, a People's Bank of China official has suggested policy making could be more effective if the central bank had more autonomy.
Kohn says Fed policy lags may be shorter
The communication of interest-rate moves during the Fed's latest tightening campaign may mean their impact on the economy will be felt more quickly than otherwise, a top Fed official said in a letter released on Friday 28 July.
RBNZ leaves OCR unchanged at 7.25 per cent
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand announced Thursday 27 July that the Official Cash Rate (OCR) will remain unchanged at 7.25 per cent. Reserve bank governor Alan Bollard said: "Recent economic developments have been broadly in line with our June Monetary…
Minutes suggest smaller rate cuts in Brazil
Brazil's central bank said Thursday 27 July it sees a "low probability" of inflationary pressures in the coming quarters, but interest rate cuts may need to be smaller to avoid a pickup in inflation.
BoJ 'very careful' about drastic rate hike-Yosano
Japan's Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Kaoru Yosano said Thursday 27 July the Bank of Japan is "very careful" about implementing credit tightening too drastically.
PBOC's Yu to stay in post until replaced - report
Yu Yongding, whose term is due to end this month, will remain in his post until a replacement is found, an official in the news department of the People's Bank of China told Dow Jones on Thursday 27 July.
BoJ's Suda sees 'gradual' rate rises
Bank of Japan policy board member Miyako Suda repeated Wednesday 26 July the central bank's view that future rate increases would be 'gradual' if the economy continues to show sustained growth.
Comment: RBI sounds warning call
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised interest rates by 25 basis points on 25 July. The central bank warned that the higher oil prices were having a "permanent" effect. Rapid credit growth and rising risk-premia were also top of the list of concerns…
Mersch on monetary policy-making in the euro area
In the speech 'Monetary policy-making in the euro area' given on 28 June Yves Mersch of the Central Bank of Luxembourg said since the introduction of the euro, inflation rates averaged slightly more than 2% in the euro area.
ECB paper on fiscal policy in a monetary economy
The ECB Working Paper "Fiscal policy in a monetary economy with capital and finite lifetime" develops a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with nominal rigidities, capital accumulation and finite lifetimes.
Bernanke's fluid inflation tone bemuses Wall St.
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke seemed remarkably unruffled last week by recent signs that inflation is accelerating, according to this article by Reuters.
China may tighten policy more - report
China will tighten policy more aggressively if measures already taken fail to cool the red-hot economy, a central bank official said in remarks published on Monday 24 July.
ECB paper on the impact of policy decisions
The ECB Working Paper "The impact of ECB monetary policy decisions and communication on the yield curve" analyses high-frequency changes in the euro area money market yield curve on dates when the ECB regularly sets and communicates decisions on policy…
Monetary policy rules in the pre-EMU era
The ECB Working Paper "Monetary policy rules in the pre-EMU era: Is there a common rule?" analyses the period 1993 to 1998 saying there is no clear agreement regarding the monetary policy pursued in the member countries during the convergence process.
Muto says BOJ will take its time with rate rises
Bank of Japan deputy governor Toshiro Muto said Friday 21 July the central bank will take its time with future interest rate increases, and the current accommodative conditions are likely to stay for now.
Minutes show Fed unsure on future rate path
Federal Reserve officials were uncertain about future interest rate steps at their last meeting, minutes released Thursday 20 July showed.
Some BOJ members wanted 0.5% hike - report says
Jiji Press reported on Friday 21 July that three Bank of Japan Policy Board members sought a steeper increase in the official discount rate at the central bank's meeting last week.
Minutes show BOJ waited to monitor markets
Minutes released on Thursday 20 July showed the Bank of Japan put off raising interest rates from zero at a board meeting in June because it wanted to monitor factors such as global markets and the U.S. economy.
Juncker says ECB not only one concerned on rates
The exchange rate policy is not the exclusive domain of the European Central Bank, the head of the Eurogroup Jean-Claude Juncker said in a newspaper interview published Thursday 20 July.
Mishkin approved by Senate Banking panel
The Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday 19 July approved the nomination of academic Frederic Mishkin to be a member of the Federal Reserve Board of governors.
Federal Reserve's Monetary Policy Report, Jul 2006
The Federal Reserve published its July 2006 Monetary Policy Report to the Congress on Wednesday 19 July. The U.S. economy continued to expand at a brisk rate, on balance, over the first half of 2006, the report said.
Bank of England voted 7-0 to hold rates
Minutes from the Bank of England's 5 and 6 July Monetary Policy Committee meeting, published Wednesday 19 July, showed policy makers voted unanimously to keep the benchmark interest rate at 4.5 percent this month.
ADB says China must tighten monetary policy
A senior Asian Development Bank official told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday 18 July that China needs to tighten its monetary policy to tackle an overheated economy and cut inefficient investment.
Comment: Bernanke focuses on risks
In his remarks following the delivery of the Fed's semi-annual monetary policy to Congress, Fed chairman, Ben Bernanke, adopted an approach very much in keeping with his predecessor, Alan Greenspan. What does this mean for the Fed's inflation targeting…