Central Banks
Loans to SMEs should have lower capital requirements – BdF paper
More SME lending boosts banks’ portfolio diversity and decreases systemic risk exposure, paper finds
High-income central banks offer more training for economists
Over 52% sponsor economics/statistics staff to undertake PhDs; 100% sponsor other training
Whither the age of ‘magic money’?
EME central banks are more exposed to changes in geopolitics, climate, demography, technology and inflation at a time when monetary theory is running well behind central bank practice
Maltese ex-finance minister becomes governor despite political dispute
Opposition alleges Edward Scicluna is “bad choice” but Labour government dismisses claims
Bank of Israel to offer repos to non-bank credit providers
Measure is a bid to foster competition, and lower households and firms' financing costs
Quarles: Fed’s supervision should evolve
Fed vice-chair says supervision has not been adequately scrutinised in the past
Few central banks forecast policy rates
Economics Benchmarks 2020 highlights wide variation in variables forecast by central banks
New Isda ‘fallbacks’ critical to making Libor transition a ‘non-event’
New protocol and supplement offer a transition away from Libor rates in 2021, despite CFTC saying 2,400 companies still exposed and Fed extending some US libor contracts until mid-2023
Monetary unions in the making in Africa
EAC, Ecowas and SADC can adopt practical steps learned from EMU to prepare for their own currency unions
ECB adds crucial tweak that could limit PEPP purchases
Hawkish governors secured wording that bond-buying allocation “need not be used in full”
Colombia names new central bank governor
Senior economist focused on development set to take office in January
New Bank of Jamaica Act grants legal independence
BoJ Act 2020 triggers formation of monetary policy committee, board restructure and increased capitalisation
BoE says banks can cope with Brexit and pandemic
But central bank warns EU actions are risking some disruption as transition period ends
Central banks rotate economics staff frequently
Economists typically spend only small portion of time on own research; opportunities for secondment abound
ECB announces major boost to pandemic programmes
New TLTRO programme will offer banks financing at negative rates to maintain consumer lending
Bank of Mexico sounds alarm over draft law
Central bank says law could damage its independence and create money-laundering risk
Most authorities failed to build up buffers before Covid hit – Carstens
Supervisors face more problems once emergency support measures are withdrawn, says BIS chief
Fed joining NGFS would be a ‘game changer’ – Després
NGFS to increase study of monetary policy’s climate implications, head of secretariat says
Advanced economies employ greater share of PhD economists
But both advanced- and emerging-economy central banks devote similar staffing to research
The long-term impact of Covid-19 on banknote demand
The coronavirus pandemic has challenged cash usage assumptions at a time when central banks make only limited use of longer-term forecasts
ECB set to boost QE purchases and extend duration of stimulus
Eurozone central bank is widely expected to increase emergency asset purchases by around €500 billion on December 10
Bank of Spain paper applies text mining to climate disclosures
Some climate disclosures found only in remuneration or Pillar 3 reports, researchers say