Central Banks
Grameen Bank dodges Yunus departure by appointing Nobel Laureate as chairman
Bangladesh’s Supreme Court rejects appeal to dismissal of Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus from Grameen Bank; microlender appoints Yunus to chair its board instead
Israel acts to avoid housing crisis
Israel introduces rules limiting amount of mortgage that can be linked to variable rate
Dallas Fed’s Fisher urges policymakers to focus on underlying inflation
Dallas Federal Reserve president Richard Fisher says policymakers should pay greater attention to underlying rather than headline inflation
Iceland minutes shows dissent from MPC member
Central Bank of Iceland Monetary Policy Committee minutes says one dissenter voted to raise rates by 25 basis points amid growing inflationary pressures
Mersch on Basel III liquidity proposals
Central Bank of Luxembourg governor Yves Mersch says Basel III bank liquidity proposals will prevent build-up in liquidity risk
ECB’s Tumpel-Gugerell on cost of ex-post crisis measures
European Central Bank executive board member Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell says large costs to clean up asset-price bubbles should lend support to more preemptive policies
Estonia ousts deputy governors
Supervisory board rejects re-election of current deputy governors, new candidates already named
Trichet signals no change in June as ECB holds
Rates likely to remain on hold until third quarter
Bank of England keep rates at record low
Bank holds for fourteenth month in a row
Denmark’s Bernstein: rate hike may dampen growth
National Bank of Denmark governor Nils Bernstein says rate hike will not trigger an economic reversal but may have dampening effect on economy
Sarb’s Mminele on policymaking in volatile markets
South African Reserve Bank deputy governor Daniel Mminele discusses challenges for policymakers in uncertain financial markets
Mexico buys 93 tonnes of gold
Bank of Mexico raises gold holdings by more than 93 tonnes in March; follows trend of other emerging market central banks
Greece will default, panellists say
Panellists at Fathom Consulting’s Monetary Policy Forum say Greece will default on debt; only a matter of by how much
Bailout package offers hope for Portugal
Lisbon accepts €78 billion bailout as part of deal to reduce deficit to 3% of GDP by 2013; analysts say preliminary terms of deal positive for sovereign
ADB discusses stability, inflation and the dollar at AGM
Annual general meeting of the Asian Development Bank touches on core issues for the region; stability, inflation and reforming the international monetary system
Russia finds a third of banks could not survive another crisis
Stress test results show 321 banks would fall below capital minimum in another financial crisis; licences would be revoked
Bernanke heeds unemployment effects on housing market
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke says high unemployment rates were increasingly forcing households to fall behind on mortgage payments
Draghi calls for EU law to govern bail-in powers
Financial Stability Board chairman Mario Draghi says measures to enable bondholders to receive haircuts before the collapse of a financial institution should be placed in European Union legislation
Barney Frank in bid to revoke regional Fed presidents’ FOMC votes
Former chair of House Financial Services Committee says regional Fed presidents shouldn’t vote because they are appointed by business, not Congress
Wellink clarifies position on Greece restructuring
Media reports suggest Netherlands Bank president Nout Wellink is open to a debt restructuring for Greece; central bank spokesperson denies suggestions, says president’s views remain in line with European Central Bank