Central Banks
Monitoring the labour market is key – BoE’s Saunders
Bank of England’s MPC member says unemployment should stay below the equilibrium 5% estimate in 2017 – but, should “warning signs appear”, changes to forecasts could be made
Riksbank dissenters raise range of concerns
Three officials objected to the Riksbank’s decision to expand its asset purchases at the meeting on December 20, for a variety of reasons, minutes show
US may not experience fiscal stimulus – Atlanta Fed president
Dennis Lockhart says the US economy has reached a “transitional” juncture; says declines in key growth factors are holding the economy back
Swift creates distributed ledger proof-of-concept
Swift, in conjunction with Hyperledger working group, will launch private distributed ledger network to help banks manage their cross-border payments
FSB finalises recommended action on asset management risks
Set of recommendations tackle liquidity, leverage, op risk and securities lending; work on globally systemic designations pushed back until 2019
ECB’s QE works best for strong banking systems – paper
Researchers track effects of ECB unconventional policy on eurozone countries
Leveraged markets not a financial stability risk – Powell
Powell examines state of highly leveraged markets with eye to financial stability, judging they are not yet a problem
Brazil ups pace of easing as inflation drops
Size of cut surprises observers, though inflation proves more favourable than expected; rates still rising in real terms
PBoC to investigate bitcoin firms
Bitcoin price falls by 33% in January; PBoC to investigate four largest bitcoin companies
Italian paper looks at securitisation of SME loans
Asymmetric information can be overcome by the use of observable data
Carney admits Brexit is no longer UK’s biggest stability risk
Bank of England governor quizzed on importance of transitional arrangements for Brexit; external financial policy member defends forecasting, but admits “surprise” at the health of the economy
Lacker to retire from Fed after 28 years
Jeffrey Lacker, who has a reputation as a monetary policy hawk, is to step down as Richmond Fed president in October; the search is on to find successor
Slovenian court rejects ECB lawsuit against authorities
Case regards police seizure of ECB data in raid on country's central bank
Yield curve control has long history – BoJ’s Amamiya
BoJ’s policy of controlling long-run rates is not as unconventional as many critics argue, executive director says
Azerbaijan raids oil fund as central bank reserves dwindle
President allocates chunk of oil fund to top up central bank reserves, as pressure on the manat continues
Dollarisation is making monetary policy ineffective, Cambodian central bank says
Central bank actively promoting the use of riel instead of US dollar; reduced riel transaction costs among measures implemented
ECB paper looks at ‘sub-sovereign’ bond yield spreads
Researchers find debt levels and risk aversion are important factors
Defence and diversification key to fund success – HKMA deputy
Exchange fund is to continue diversifying into industries that can “counter” inflationary pressures, Yue says, as a challenging investment environment looks set to continue
ECB announces plans for instant payment system changes
Coming year will see “decisive” innovations to clearing and settlement systems, Yves Mersch says; French governor calls for more European competition in payment services
BIS paper flags importance of “multi-layered” bank networks
Authors go beyond aggregate exposures to reveal “multiplex” interbank networks, which could allow more tailored policymaking
Turkish central bank acts to support lira as inflation jumps
Central bank launches fresh measures to counter “unhealthy price formations”; inflation surprise in December adds to pressure for monetary policy action
Thai governor calls for rethink of monetary policy frameworks
New structure should systematically acknowledge the negative impact of monetary policy; Santiprabhob recognises macroprudential cannot take all the strain
TK Whitaker, 1916–2017
Former Irish governor was key figure in his country’s economic modernisation; earlier served as senior civil servant in finance and pushed through far-reaching reform plan