Central Banks
Using inflation to erode the US public debt
Paper examines relationship between size of debt and the temptation to inflate
Rate decisions this week
Korea, New Zealand hold but indicate tightening soon to come. Bank of England and Bank of Canada maintain policy stance, along with Peru and Brazil as Denmark and Iceland cut
America can learn from us: Uganda’s Tumusiime-Mutebile
Bank of Uganda’s governor says risk-based supervision saved the country’s banks; reinforces the importance of open-market principles for the economy
Iceland cuts on further signs of stability
Central Bank of Iceland continues with “gradual” easing as currency stabilises
SNB steps towards exit
Swiss National Bank announces end to credit easing
Ireland creates senior posts
Central Bank & Financial Services Authority of Ireland announces new roles as part of regulatory shift
Explaining wage stickiness
Bank of Estonia research suggests workforce composition, factors in individual countries and a positive relationship with competition all explain the downward rigidity of earnings
CentralBanking.com panel: it’s too soon to exit
Charles Goodhart, Paul Mortimer-Lee, Lucrezia Reichlin and Gabriel Stein concur that dangers are greater from exiting too early than too late but warn that asset prices risk becoming over inflated
Former Jamaican governor attacks PM
Recently resigned governor Derick Latibeaudiere says PM has shown a lack of respect
Mexican finance minister nominated to head central bank
Guillermo Ortiz set to step down after 12 years at the helm of the Bank of Mexico
Czech’s Tuma accuses IMF, EBRD over CEE comments
Czech National Bank governor says multilateral organisations failed to differentiate between central and eastern European countries at the height of the crisis
SMEs are pulling through: ECB’s Tumpel-Gugerell
European Central Bank board member says small firms are the backbone of the euro economy and have done well in the crisis; outlines advantages of SEPA for SMEs
Riksbank – Financial Stability Report 2009:2
Sveriges Riksbank’s second report of the year finds conditions have improved, but emphases the brittle nature of financial markets’ confidence
BoJ’s special funds operation most effective for CP market
A Bank of Japan paper argues that outright purchases and repo operations were only briefly effective compared to the authority’s special funds operation
Greece downgraded; remains on negative watch
One of the big-three ratings agencies downgrades Greece and keeps outlook on negative
China to maintain “moderately loose” policy
People’s Bank of China indicates rates will be kept low for some time to support growth and stability; statement echoes the pledges of central economic conference
Korea labels gold rush illusory
Bank of Korea’s head of reserves management looks to downplay surge of central bank interest in bullion
BIS on how to make stress tests better
Research examines the reasons for poor performance of stress tests pre-crisis and notes implications for their design and conduct in the future
Israel minutes show division between advisers
Minutes of the Bank of Israel’s November meeting reveal one of the four advisers to the governor said rates should be left unchanged, while three voted for a 25bp hike
Ex-RBNZ head hits back at inflation-targeting critics
First governor to preside over the introduction of inflation targeting defends framework against recent criticisms