Central Banks
Hungary prepares bracing bank tax, wage caps
Hungarian parliament set to approve hefty bank levy to shear budget deficit; public sector wage freeze will affect central bank employees, despite ECB protests
Laos to liberalise cross-border transactions
Laos notifies IMF that it accepts plans to adopt measures that will end restrictions on international payments and transactions
US deposit insurance ceiling permanently raised to $250,000
Dodd-Frank law makes temporary $250,000 limit permanent; Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation says new law will apply retroactively
Tax increase creates dilemma for BoE policymakers
Bank of England hints at further stimulus despite signs inflation will remain high on the back of value added tax hikes
Faulty paper halts note production at De La Rue
Banknote printer De La Rue suspends production at its Hampshire plant owing to paper fault; shares plummet on company statement that 2010 production and sales will be affected
BoE: UK consumer confidence continues to slump
Bank of England field survey on business conditions shows consumer sentiment slightly weaker in second quarter of 2010 as sales declined
BoJ’s accommodative policy will be consistent, say minutes
Bank of Japan minutes show central bank will press ahead with accommodative polices to tackle deflation in economy
Japan’s Yamaguchi apprehensive of Asian expansion
Bank of Japan deputy governor Hirohide Yamaguchi says emerging economies must be aware of overheating
RBA’s Stevens: Economic downturn will have long lasting implications
Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens says financial crisis will have longer lasting impacts to advanced economies
Sarb trumps investors in fight to amend law
South African parliamentary committee approves amendments proposed by central bank to protect it from shareholder attack; bill now expected to be signed into law
Price stability rightly remains sole focus of monetary policy: IMF
Fund directors say macroprudential measures, rather than monetary policy tools, should deliver financial stability; propose measures including dynamic provisioning framework
Swiss National Bank set to post half-year loss of $3.8 billion
SNB forecasts exchange-rate losses of more than Sfr14 billion on the back of the euro’s decline; gold gains and FX positions pare losses
BoE expands discount window collateral list
Bank of England to accept loans to individuals and businesses as collateral for discount window in order to provide more liquidity in times of stress
Estonia upgraded on euro accession; Ireland knocked down on banks’ weakness
Fitch lifts Estonian credit rating two notches, citing benefits of eurozone membership and strong fiscal performance; Moody’s downgrades Ireland on poor growth projections, worries over bad bank
Volcker philosophical on weakened rule, reform bill
Former Fed chairman Paul Volcker says failure to include dollar limit on banks’ positions in hedge funds “disappointing”, but accepts need for political compromise
Nigeria’s bad bank comes to life
Nigerian President signs bill approving creation of bad bank to take $10 billion in toxic loans off beleaguered banks’ balance sheets; agency to be up and running by end-September
IMF on Peru’s de-dollarisation experiment
IMF uses Peruvian experience in last decade to show benefits of de-dollarisation policies
Bank of England – Trends in Lending (July 2010)
Bank of England’s July lending report shows further declines in bank loans as demand continues to weaken
Bank of Japan – Monthly Report of Recent Economic and Financial Developments (July 2010)
Bank of Japan report shows boost in export growth was undermined by chronic deflation problems
HKMA unveils design of two new banknotes
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority says improved security features on new banknotes will reduce counterfeits in circulation