Central Banks
Departing Bernanke takes stock of Fed's unprecedented actions
Federal Reserve chairman discusses the ups and downs of the bank's asset purchases and attempt to guide market expectations; admits shortcomings but maintains policies are warranted
Robert Pringle's Viewpoint: Carney makes his mark at the Bank of England
Mark Carney has achieved much more than meets the eye in his first five months as governor of the Bank of England
OECD joins calls for eurozone QE
Organisation says ECB should consider ‘institutional changes' to allow it to buy corporate and sovereign bonds; suggests a timetable for US taper
IMF plucks chief economist from Central Bank of Ireland
Lars Frisell is leaving the Central Bank of Ireland after less than two years as its chief economist to take an unspecified post at the IMF; search begins for his successor
Polish economists say rate cuts damaged trust in ECB
Working paper says central bank interest rate cuts can damage public trust if they come at a time when households have ‘pessimistic expectations'
New Argentine governor unlikely to press for independence
Latest central bank chief expected to be subordinate to new economy minister, who believes the central bank has a major role to play in boosting economic growth and investment
Fed presidents push for macro-prudential rethink
Eric Rosengren joins chorus for simpler Basel III capital requirements, while Narayana Kocherlakota says regulators ought to be paying more attention to the measurement of too-big-to-fail effects
Caruana flags evidence of ‘manifold’ QE spillovers
BIS general manager presents evidence of varied spillovers from advanced economies' monetary policy; says policy-makers should do more to take them into account
Belgian paper posits method for robust optimal monetary policy
Working paper suggests way of supplementing optimal monetary policy with elements of a rules-based policy, punishing policy-makers for deviation but not preventing them from exercising discretion
Brazil’s Tombini says ‘we still do not fully understand’ macro-prudential tools
Governor of the Central Bank of Brazil warns that limited understanding of new policies presents ‘significant communication challenges’ for central banks
ECB cut prompts record FX intervention in Serbia
Central bank expresses ‘firm and prudent’ resolve to lean against capital flows resulting from ECB rate cut, but eschews a fixed exchange rate
Bank of Spain puts 'revolving door' under review
Javier Priego, the Bank of Spain’s general secretariat, is reassessing the rules governing central bank employees after they leave the institution
People: Tim Geithner moves to Warburg Pincus; BNM deputy re-appointed
Former Treasury secretary and New York Fed head Timothy Geithner takes a job in private equity; Malaysia re-appoints deputy to three-year term; two new directors at Dallas Fed
Malaysia central bank opens office in Beijing
BNM's newly established presence reflects growing trade and financial ties with China; governor also reveals new renminbi liquidity facility and MoU to establish cross-border collateral arrangements
Emerging markets will 'suffer' as QE ends, say panellists
Guillermo Calvo, Vittorio Corbo and Maurice Obstfeld say emerging markets face a bumpy landing when Fed winds down QE, and some are better prepared than others
Bank of England points to growing concern over low rates
Market participants say the risks surrounding low interest rates are now the third biggest cause for concern in the UK financial system, behind sovereign risk and the prospect of an economic downturn
Belgian paper warns central bank policies could worsen financial shocks
Working paper studies optimal monetary policy configurations for price and financial stability in Eastern Europe; finds central banks may worsen credit shocks by taking action against them
Has the global financial crisis dented central bank independence?
Grace Koshie looks at the post-crisis role of central banks, examining issues of fiscal dominance and weaker policy freedom in an increasingly inter-connected world demanding ever-greater transparency
Central bankers face tough monetary policy dilemmas
Central bankers around the world need to rethink their approaches to monetary policy
OECD’s William White fears global economic system is still highly unstable
William White tells Christopher Jeffery he is wary of placing too much reliance on the ‘science’ of monetary or regulatory policy. He also believes the world economic system is still out of balance
Monetary policy is the incorrect tool to curb asset bubbles
There is no evidence the use of monetary policy in Sweden to keep household debt in check actually works. Such a policy only undermines employment and results in the Riksbank breaching its mandate
Kazakhstan’s integration of alternative assets into its reserves management
Resource-rich Kazakhstan has embraced alternatives through the creation of a new fund to drive returns and improve diversification of its foreign reserves. Yeszhan Birtanov reports