Central Banks
UK households pessimistic about fortunes in 2018
Survey published by BoE reveals UK households do not expect an improvement in their financial positions
Bank Indonesia to nudge more people to open bank accounts
The country aims to boost the percentage of the population with bank accounts to 75% by 2019
Ukrainian central bank warns over ‘lengthy delay’ to IMF aid
National Bank of Ukraine calls for urgent action on state-owned banks; interim governor still in post after seven months
Lagarde warns of recessions in African economies
Some countries’ GDP due to shrink despite headline growth, IMF chief warns
Iran needs financial sector reform – IMF staff
Central bank should have greater independence and supervisory powers, urge IMF staff
Bank of Canada is focusing on household debt levels, governor says
Governor says levels of debt keep him awake at night
HKMA offers fast-track model vetting in swaps hub pitch
Streamlined process could take just six months, says official
MAS expands consumer debt management toolkit
New measure caps “unsecured credit” banks can offer indebted borrowers
Google’s Hal Varian on how technology is changing economics
Big data and machine learning are facilitating changes in thinking
Paper looks at EU attempt to increase capital supply to SMEs
Measure introduced in CRR has benefited medium but not small businesses, researchers say
EBA publishes NPL standards in bid to foster market
Reporting templates ask for granular data in bid to establish EU dataset
Russian central bank bails out country’s ninth-largest lender
Bank of Russia also cuts policy rates for fourth time in 2017
Bank of Mexico hikes rates as inflation rises
Central bank resumes tightening path as Mexican economy faces trade and currency challenges
Fed backtracks on CCAR cleared swaps exposure
Regulator had also postponed plan to feed cleared client exposure into G-Sib rankings
SNB keeps accommodative policy unchanged
Central bank acknowledges Swiss franc’s depreciation, but still considers development “fragile”
Credit no longer supporting Chinese growth – research
China’s economy has become “saturated with credit”, argues IMF research paper
Google chief economist Hal Varian offers machine-learning insights
No branch of economic theory seems to hold true in reality, says Varian
Draghi says ECB’s asset purchases should stay ‘open-ended’
ECB president rejects calls for September end to purchases as inflation forecasts rise slightly
Stress tests find vulnerabilities in European pension funds
More than a quarter of institutions could not fulfil their commitments following an adverse scenario
BoE expects UK inflation slowdown
Bank of England keeps rates on hold at 0.5%
Demography, tech reduce US natural unemployment rate – paper
Baby boomers remain active longer, and older workers record lower levels of unemployment
National Payment Gateway launched in Indonesia
New national platform to consolidate fragmented infrastructure, reducing costs and improving efficiency
People: Fed appoints new payments security strategy chief
Boston Fed vice-president to lead payments security; director of prudential regulation of UK banks to stand down; and more