Central Banks
FOMC’s Brainard: Fed may need to raise rates in near future
“Drag” on US economy from foreign and domestic factors decreasing, FOMC member says; Brainard also calls for shrinking Fed’s balance sheet as rates rise
Sarb shares back on sale after long legal battle
Central bank’s lawyers have been grappling with activist investors since before the global crisis; court victory allows Sarb to put shares on sale
RBI’s Gandhi thinks blockchain’s capabilities are being ‘overstated’
Deputy governor says virtual currencies issues on a blockchain network pose a number of risks; fintech industry starting to wake up to blockchain’s “exaggerated” benefits
People: Ireland deputy departs for private sector; BoE’s Broadbent to sit on new prudential committee
Cyril Roux to leave the Central Bank of Ireland in April; Mark Carney appoints Ben Broadbent to new prudential regulation committee; and more
Russian central bank centralises supervisory duties
New division will supervise smaller banks across the country
Bank of Jamaica proposes ‘hybrid’ resolution framework
New “hybrid framework” proposed after FSB report showed gaps in current resolution processes; parties have until April 14 to comment
Interest rate effects weaker at low levels – Borio and Gambacorta
Supply of loans becomes less responsive to policy rate movements when interest rates are already very low, likely due to impact on bank profits, authors say
Fed could shrink balance sheet to end “twist” on yield curve – Bullard
Allowing some bonds to run off the balance sheet could permit a more natural yield curve, St Louis Fed president says; San Francisco Fed’s Williams says a March rate hike expectation is “on the table”
New Barbados governor casts critical eye over public sector
Efficiency of services offered by the public sector needs improvement, says Haynes; current issues are a “great cost” to productivity
Czech National Bank reorganises supervision department
Bank says it will increase staffing of revamped division
Bank of Spain paper calculates implicit public debt thresholds
Researchers build on earlier work and apply models to Spanish data
Caruana: financial globalisation is not over
BIS chief says “peak finance” has not arrived, despite signs of a slowdown in global banking activity; warns against inward-looking policy-making
Basel capital surcharges are too low – Fed paper
Authors argue current Basel standards are not enough to guard against the failure of a global bank, particularly those reliant on short-term funding
Kazakhstan’s long path to inflation targeting
After a slow start, the National Bank of Kazakhstan’s implementation of inflation forecast targeting is beginning to mature. By Warren Coats
Cash is here to stay – SNB’s Zurbrügg
SNB official says reports of cash’s “death” are “exaggerated”; central bank has no plans to stop printing banknotes as its popularity remains
Norway’s oil fund delivers strong returns in 2016
Fund enjoys nearly 7% growth, with strong equity performance leading the way; strategy envisages work to improve efficiency and overhaul investment platform
Fed needs quarterly monetary policy report, Bullard says
St Louis president argues for better Fed communication when it comes to monetary policy decisions; a quarterly report would align the US with international best practice
Ukraine central bank: governor is not considering resigning
Local reports say Valeria Gontareva wishes to step down; NBU gives first custodian contract to commercial bank
Barbadian finance minister thanks Worrell, despite sacking him
Sinckler says government will “eliminate reliance" on central bank financing; gives Worrell lukewarm thanks for his time as governor