Central Banks
Central Bank of Brazil staff strike over pay
Central bankers join widespread Brazilian public sector strike in run up to passage of government budget; lower-level employees walked out with no impact on functioning
Japan holds rates and delays disbursement of fund provision
Bank of Japan maintains benchmark rate at near zero; puts off first issuance of fund provision due to reform plans for Libor
Bollard sets out vision of ‘new world’ economy
Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand warns shift of global economy in favour of emerging Asia brings both risks and benefits; says attitudes towards debt have become more cautious
Banque de France paper finds limited inflation impact of macro-prudential policy
Working paper searches for possible conflict of interest between monetary and macro-prudential policy; says risk is small but policies should nevertheless be co-ordinated
Reserve Bank of Fiji annual report highlights steady recovery
Annual report for 2011 reviews policy challenges throughout year; says central bank delivered on mandate of low inflation and stable reserves while helping to spur growth
RBI paper measures threshold of sustainable current account deficit in India
Working paper warns of risks posed by large current account deficits; finds sustainable level of deficit has risen since balance of payments crisis in the 1990s
Croatian National Bank identifies increasing risks to financial stability
Financial stability report says contagion from eurozone, deleveraging by European banks or collapse of confidence in fiscal sustainability could push Croatia into deeper recession
Updated 50 Bermuda dollar banknote enters circulation
New 50 Bermuda dollar banknote issued by Monetary Authority; includes new image of a longtail bird and reworked prefix on the serial number
Bank of Korea strikes melancholy note in policy announcement
South Korea notes struggling economic scenes both at home and abroad; MPC decides to hold benchmark rate as a consequence
Banque de France predicts output contraction in Q3
Survey on Industry and Services shows French businesses expect growth to contract by 0.1% in third quarter of 2012; figures show steady deterioration in sentiment since mid-2010
National Bank of Hungary divided over policy stance
Minutes of the National Bank of Hungary’s July monetary policy meeting show disagreement among council members over rate decision; vote split 5:2 in favour of hold
Governor of Bangladesh Bank discusses increasing workforce
Atiur Rahman says Bangladesh must 'make the most' of low dependency ratio in population over next 10 years; urges pursuit of job-creating growth strategies
Bank of Israel report warns of further downward revision to growth
Monetary policy report for first half of 2012 shows continuation of moderate growth but says if current indications of a slowdown do not change, the forecast will have to be revised down
King says black clouds remain over UK economy
Governor of the Bank of England reveals lower growth prediction for UK; inflation also expected to fall but King denies country faces a lost decade
Bernanke stresses importance of Fed independence
Chairman of the Federal Reserve highlights provisions in place to safeguard independence of the US central bank; discusses common fiscal authority for Europe
Indian government appoints new RBI director
Arvind Mayaram appointed as new member of Reserve Bank of India’s central board of directors; becomes one of two government representatives on the board
Irish financial accounts highlight increase in government liabilities
Quarterly financial accounts for Ireland show levels of government liabilities rising to historic peak; household debt declines slightly over the quarter
SNB reveals scale of latest foreign exchange purchases
Swiss National Bank posts large increase in foreign exchange holdings from June to July; purchases represent efforts by central bank to prevent safe-haven flows into country
Banque de France paper highlights risks of financial markets opacity
Researchers find imperfect information on financial intermediaries’ exposures encourages risk-taking; suggest low interest rates and ‘gambling for resurrection’ raise systemic risk
Governor of Bank of Ghana becomes vice-president
Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur sworn in as deputy to president John Dramani Mahama; no news on replacement at the helm of the central bank