Central Banks
Bernanke delivers first student lecture
Fed chairman recounts origins of central banks and stresses their importance in first lecture to US students; lecture series takes place at key time as fierce Fed critic Ron Paul runs for president
BoE chief economist highlights UK supply-side challenges
Broad and deep supply-side restructuring of UK economy required to achieve rebalancing, says Spencer Dale
Reserve Bank of Australia wary of risks from European contagion
RBA Monetary Policy Committee signals ongoing concern at contagion effect from Europe dampening Australian prospects
China and Mongolia double currency swap arrangement
Chinese and Mongolian central banks agree supplementary currency swap arrangement that doubles the amount of currency at stake under the deal
QE is ‘decisively working’ say CBP panellists
Central Banking On Air event focuses on impact of quantitative easing; panellists agree emergency monetary policy steps have been effective but question whether the Fed has ‘over-committed’ itself
Lithuanian Supervision Service gets new powers
Board of Lithuanian central bank grants Supervision Service right to exercise powers to supervise non-banking financial institutions
Bangladesh Bank governor vows to speed up reforms
Governor pledges to introduce new supervisory safeguards to strengthen banking system
IMF policy paper investigates volatility in low-income countries
International Monetary Fund paper looks into the role and potential for contingent financial instruments to aid in managing shocks in low-income countries
Increased fixed capital formations in South Africa
Latest quarterly bulletin from Sarb strikes optimistic note; chief economist at the central bank says increase in capital spending originates from both private and public sectors
Norges Bank announces operational changes
Norwegian central bank to create third core function department; new structure to come into effect at beginning of June
Weidmann airs unresolved questions of financial crisis
Bundesbank president details areas where research is needed to better understand the causes of the financial crisis; wants to better understand risks of securitisation practices
Bank of Greece delivers policy report for ‘critical year’
Greek central bank announces bleak prediction for economy in 2012; calls on government to go above and beyond to ensure reform programme is implemented
Sarb seeks nominations for board of directors
South African Reserve Bank announces procedure for replacing retiring member of board of directors
Fed research finds tax policies may ease wage inequality
A new study by researchers at the Federal Reserve finds that wage inequality across states during the past 20 years was mitigated by tax codes
‘Numerous episodes’ of heightened anxiety ahead for Europe, says RBA’s Stevens
Reseve Bank of Australia governor, Glenn Stevens, says ‘old world’ problems have “riveted” global attention but ECB action prevented another funding crisis
Commission paper sheds light on dangers of shadow banking
The potential for shadow banking to damage the wider banking system and disrupt the macro-prudential aims of the ECB has been highlighted in the latest green paper from the European Commission
IMF releases latest country report on Greece
Report finds improvements in Greece since Fund intervention first started but deficit targets are 'ambitious'
Tighter euro rules will also target trade surplus countries, says González-Páramo
Europe needs to create new mechanisms to fulfill the duties of ‘missing institutions’ to ensure the euro can survive. New monitoring capabilities will also target trade surplus countries, says ECB board member
Euro has benefited smaller states, says Polish central bank chief
National Bank of Poland president Marek Belka tells conference that the euro has had a substantial positive impact for smaller European countries
International regulators uneasy over Volcker rule
Ban on proprietary trading could affect liquidity in non-US bond markets, regulators argue
Some BoJ policy members wanted QE by year-end
Minutes of Bank of Japan meeting in February indicate some officials discussed implementing QE by the end of 2012