Central Banks
Bagehot revisited
The credit crisis has underlined the limited effectiveness of central banks’ lender-of-last-resort function, argues Bruce White
Why the American economy needs fiscal assistance
For all its activism, the Fed cannot address the persistent imbalances in the American economy on its own, says John Balder
Getting the policy mix right
Policymakers should pay greater attention to the links between liquidity and capital, says Glenn Hubbard
Turmoil in the Basel tower
The handling of the resignation of Malcolm Knight was badly bungled, says Klaus Engelen
Draghi prepares to slim down
The Bank of Italy finds resistance from its staff and labour unions, but insists it will push ahead with controversial reforms. Isabella Bufacchi reports
Inside Beijing’s power struggle
Having seized the early initiative in Beijing’s anti-inflation strategy, the People’s Bank of China has seen its authority increasingly challenged, argues Hui Feng
Light in Gaza
Jihad Alwazir, the governor of the Palestine Monetary Authority, tells Claire Jones how the central bank is reforming the state’s banking sector and why the institution needs to be a “jack of all trades”
RBI: lack of education limits electronic payments
A lack of education among bank staff at the branch level is the main reason for the slow adoption of electronic transfers in India, said Vittaldas Leeladhar, a deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
Behind the BoJ's risk balance charts
Hidetoshi Kamezaki, a member of the policy board of Bank of Japan, explained the background behind the introduction of the central bank's new risk-balance charts.
RBZ splurges on luxury goods for judiciary
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has bought a fleet of Mercedes-Benz cars, plasma-screen TVs and satellite dishes for the country's judges.
Venezuela calms liquidity fears on Chavez takeover
The Central Bank of Venezuela has said that the country's financial system is sufficiently liquid after the nationalisation of one of its biggest banks prompted concern about the banking industry's health.
HKMA Exchange Fund posts HK$35 billion H1 loss
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority's (HKMA) Exchange Fund recorded a loss of HK$35 billion ($4.49 billion) in the first half of the year as its equity portfolio took a substantial hit.
Australia's PM: banks must pass on RBA cuts
Kevin Rudd, Australia's prime minister, has urged the nation's banks to pass on the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) rate cuts to consumers.
Ecuador appoints new central bank chief
Carlos Vallejo Lopez has become president of the Central Bank of Ecuador little more than a week after joining the institution.
South African rates high enough: Mnyande
The South African Reserve Bank's tightening cycle could be at an end after a senior official said that rates were now at an appropriate level to contain inflation.
Russia launches fresh bid to tackle inflation
The Central Bank of Russia said on Friday that it would raise its reserve requirement ratios for the fourth time this year to curb annual inflation, which is estimated at about 15%.
Czech executive director quits
Leos Ptr, the executive director responsible for financial market supervision at the Czech National Bank, resigned Thursday.
BoE's Tucker on assessing price impact of slowdown
A key challenge for the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee will be to assess whether the expected economic slowdown will be sufficient to bring inflation back to target, said Paul Tucker, the Bank's executive director responsible for markets.
Joint Forum: reduce dependence on external CRs
Investors should never exclusively rely on external ratings when evaluating credit risk transfer instruments, says the Joint Forum, a group of senior financial regulators, in a paper on this sector.
Fed's Warsh: we would take covered bonds
Highly rated, high-quality covered bonds would generally fall within the range of collateral acceptable at the Federal Reserve's discount window, said Kevin Warsh, a governor at the Federal Reserve Board.
Asian inflation may spark investor flight
If inflation continue to rise, a deterioration of investor sentiment about emerging-markets economies cannot be ruled out, said the Exchange Fund advisory committee of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority according to minutes of its June meeting.
Eurozone inflation hits fresh record
Annual inflation in the eurozone looks to have hit a record high of 4.1% in July.
UK MPC hawk acting on 70s memories
Tim Besley, the only member of the Bank of England's nine-strong Monetary Policy Committee to back a rate hike this month, voted against the majority on fears that UK inflation could become as volatile as it was in the 1970s.