Central Banks
RBNZ’s Wheeler threatens currency intervention
Graeme Wheeler spells out the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s concern over its ‘overvalued’ currency, and says the central bank would consider intervening
Bank of Zambia holds seminar for local journalists
The Bank of Zambia held a three-day seminar for journalists at a holiday resort last week, impressing on them their responsibility to provide accurate information on the economy
State secretary takes over at Kyrgyz central bank
Head of the government’s economics department, Tolkunbek Abdygulov, is appointed acting governor of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic at the age of 37
Iran takes transparency lesson from Azerbaijan's SWF
Iran's sovereign wealth fund managers travelled to Azerbaijan to discuss improving fund transparency and international co-operation
Yves Mersch says EU treaty change could entrench monetary and banking union
Changing the EU treaties could, according to Mersch, help strengthen the institutional framework underpinning the Economic and Monetary Union
Central Asia's central banks should shift attention to communication strategies – IMF
While some central banks in the Caucasus and Central Asia ‘require further development of instruments', others may ‘shift attention to communication strategies
Bank of Italy wary of emerging market risk
Italy’s central bank reports improving financial conditions in the eurozone, but remains wary of low inflation and emerging market slowdown
OECD urges ECB to cut key rate
The OECD chief economist calls on the European Central Bank to cut its main refinance rate to zero and prepare for ‘additional non-conventional stimulus’
Finland deputy: Banking union may 'exacerbate conflict' for national supervisors
Banking union is envisaged to lessen the role that national interest plays in bank supervision, but Pentti Hakkarainenin warns of potential short-term setbacks
Bangladesh Bank governor hails SME finance initiative
Central bank funding for SME lending has seen loans to small businesses grow in absolute terms, and as a share of bank lending, since 2010
Bank of Korea expresses macroprudential concerns
Bank of Korea says the financial system is ‘generally’ stable, but the corporate sector is struggling with static profitability and household debt is rising under some measures
BoE paper emphasises uncertainty over risk to argue for simpler regulation
Misguided ‘quest for ever-greater precision' in bank regulation is creating ‘ever-lengthening regulatory rulebooks' that are hard to communicate and bad at predicting outcomes
China should adopt new intermediate target for monetary policy, say IMF economists
Economists at the IMF analyse demand for money in China and conclude the PBoC would be better off targeting interest rates in the economy rather than monetary aggregates
Central bankers give mixed review of BoE forward guidance
One third of respondents to CentralBanking.com poll say the Bank of England’s second phase of forward guidance is an admission that its first attempt was a failure
IMF moves to unshackle programme countries' monetary policy
The Fund's move towards more flexible conditionality in support programmes is part of a bigger push, but some say it does not go far enough
BoE's Cunliffe warns of 'sustained and powerful pressure' on UK house prices
Deputy governor for financial stability says it would be 'dangerous to ignore momentum in housing market' and cautions that new prudential measures have yet to be tested
Inflation rebound eases pressure on ECB
An increase in annual inflation and an improving credit outlook will help ease the pressure on the European Central Bank governing council, which meets in Brussels next week
Fed slows asset purchases to $45 billion a month
Growth in economic activity has picked up recently, after having slowed sharply during the winter in part because of adverse weather conditions, the FOMC notes
BoE's Haldane says time is right to review MPC schedule
Bank's head of financial stability and soon-to-be chief economist says his views on financial and regulatory matters ‘aren't going to disappear'
Yellen promises ‘tailored' regulation for community lenders
Fed chair says regulator will become ‘smarter' in applying rules to ensure smaller lenders can thrive, while still addressing ‘too big to fail'
IMF $17 billion rescue package will see Ukraine head towards IT regime
Ukraine's central bank will, with IMF help, transition to an inflation targeting regime in mid-2015 as part of a $17 billion rescue package agreed last night