Central Banks
Qatar Central Bank launches legal probe into manipulation
Central bank appoints law firm, as governor accuses blockading countries of manipulating the riyal and local markets
Experts’ panel appointed for RBNZ mandate review
A panel of three external experts will provide a report to the Minister of Finance; group will hold its first meeting later this month
BoE sets out post-Brexit supervision plans
Central bank says UK will aim to stay open as banks, insurers and CCPs are brought under the PRA’s oversight; changes imply heavy workload for the supervisor
Riksbank moves towards normalisation; interest rate on hold
Executive board votes to keep the interest rate at –0.5%; says it will end QE programme in December 2017
GFXC publishes final word on last look
The Global Foreign Exchange Committee releases the new and final version of Principle 17, and adds two examples to illustrate best practice
Fed paper sets out model of financial panics
Mark Gertler, Nobuhiro Kiyotaki and Andrea Prestipino examine banking panics in a DSGE model
Macro-pru tools helped offset taper tantrum – paper
Macro-prudential measures helped reduce the impact on cross-border lending growth, say authors
FOMC will lose two dissenting doves in 2018
Kashkari and Evans were the only members who voted against the last rate rise on December 13
One big bank falls short of ECB’s capital requirements
One bank falls short and a second comes close, although five banks failed the test in 2016
CNB ramps up financial stability department role
Central bank “elevates” the department in its governance structure to reflect its growing importance; hikes countercyclical buffer amid lending boom
UK households pessimistic about fortunes in 2018
Survey published by BoE reveals UK households do not expect an improvement in their financial positions in the coming year
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; governor’s post remains unfilled
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” that banks can offer indebted borrowers; it is a “pre-emptive measure”, says MAS official
Google’s Hal Varian on how technology is changing economics
Google’s chief economist talks to Christopher Jeffery about how big data and machine learning are facilitating changes in economic thinking; discusses the impact technical breakthroughs may have for central banks