Central Banks
BoJ head hints at bubble-bursting role for rates
Masaaki Shirakawa, the governor of the Bank of Japan, has indicated that monetary policy should act on asset-price bubbles.
Bank to cut by 100 basis points?
The Bank of England will likely cut rates by a full percentage point on Thursday, some leading City of London economists believe.
Fed acts to enforce benchmark target
The Federal Reserve has moved to correct the disparity between its federal funds target and actual rates by raising the amount of interest paid on excess reserves held at the central bank.
Dollar Libor spreads plummet to pre-Lehman levels
Money-market tensions showed further signs of easing on Wednesday, with the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) for three-month dollar loans plunging 20 basis points to 2.51%.
NY Fed hires Bear Stearns' risk-management head
The chief risk officer at Bear Stearns, the now-defunct investment bank, has joined the New York Federal Reserve to advise on bank supervision.
Policymakers added to volatility: Fed's Lacker
Shifts in expectations regarding the chances of official intervention may have made financial markets more volatile, said Jeffrey Lacker, the president of the Richmond Federal Reserve.
Turkey explains October hold
The Central Bank of Turkey's rate-setting committee in October decided to keep rates on hold as the intensification of the financial turmoil called for a cautious approach, the minutes of the meeting reveal.
Inflation targets flexible and resilient
Inflation targeting has proved fairly flexible and resilient, research from the Boston Federal Reserve states.
Korea asks China for dollar-swap deal
The Bank of Korea on Tuesday confirmed that it had asked the People's Bank of China for a dollar-swap line after reports emerged on the proposed facility.
SARB "distinctly dovish" in latest policy review
South African Reserve Bank on Tuesday adopted a dovish tone in its latest Monetary Policy Review, saying inflation was likely to fall sharply towards the 3%-6% target range in the new year.
RBA slashes rates to five-year low
The Reserve Bank of Australia on Tuesday shocked markets with a sharper-than-expected rate cut of 75 basis points.
Bank of Canada restructures to enhance stability
The Bank of Canada on Monday reorganised its senior management structure to better safeguard stability and improve its research capability.
Bernanke: we must support mortgage securitisation
The government has a role in supporting mortgage securitisation during periods of high financial stress, said Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve.
Lira's decline won't trigger inflation
The recent depreciation of the Turkish lira will be largely offset by the disinflationary impact of the fall in food and energy prices and weakening domestic demand, states the latest Inflation Report of the Central Bank of Turkey.
Czech currency protects economy - CNB's Singer
The Czech koruna cossets the economy from financial turmoil elsewhere, said Miroslav Singer, a vice governor of the Czech National Bank.
Ex-PBoC deputy questions policy after Beijing cut
Wu Xiaoling, a former deputy governor at the People's Bank of China, has said the central bank should not loosen monetary policy further after the institution cut rates and relaxed loan conditions last week.
India acts on stability fears
The Reserve Bank of India has cut rates for the second time in a fortnight and introduced a raft of liquidity measures to shore up financial stability.
Oil price plunge prompts Iraqi cut
The Central Bank of Iraq has cut its benchmark rate by a full percentage point to 15% days after the governor warned that the dismal global outlook and the slump in oil prices could drag the country into recession.
IMF: crisis calls for new statistics
Understanding the crisis may require out-of-the-box thinking on data, said Adelheid Burgi-Schmelz, the new director of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) statistics department.
Turkey's Yilmaz: FX liquidity support in place
The central bank put into effect measures to support foreign exchange liquidity in the domestic banking system, said Durmus Yilmaz, the governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey.
US: debit cards and electronic payments rising
Electronic methods of cheque clearing are rapidly replacing traditional paper methods, reports a new paper from the Federal Reserve Board.
Norges's Qvigstad - central banks are changing
Liquidity policy is now at the forefront of the monetary policy scene, said Jan Qvigstad, the deputy governor of the Norges Bank.
Bank of Japan split on rate cut
Bank of Japan policymakers were divided in making the first cut in more than seven years on Friday. The central bank lowered its overnight lending rate from 0.5% to 0.3% due to a "severe" adjustment in the world economy.