Central Banks
Bank of Israel aims to boost construction credit with new regulation
Banking supervision department proposes reclassifying credit risk in wake of financial institution’s efforts to insure against it; suggests it would free up $2.6bn of finance
Sarb to embark on ‘customised’ leadership development, deputy says
Mminele emphasises importance of leadership in addressing economic challenges; central bank to launch new leadership development programme ‘customised’ for each management level
Governments should look beyond criticism and protect central bank independence – Rajan
Governor of the RBI says institutions are used to criticism in line of work, but should still have ability to adopt whichever policies are needed
MAS adds cloud computing to guidelines on outsourcing risk management
Cloud services officially acknowledged in latest outsourcing guidelines as more financial institutions adopt the practice; despite improved security, banks should still be aware of the risks
Helicopters bearing gifts
As QE and negative rates run out of room, helicopter money could be a last resort for overstretched central banks. But its detractors say the cost of its use could be very high
Sri Lanka invites bids to mint 970 million coins
Central bank calling for four denominations of coin to be minted by end-March 2019; looking for mints with experience of supplying foreign countries with circulation coins
Turkish governor says monetary policy will be simplified at ‘reasonable’ time
Turkish governor emphasises need to address “structural” causes of inflation and says effects of recent coup attempt should prove “short-lived"
Bank of Italy paper aims to improve on EC current account model
Research offers a new model of external adjustment; the EC’s model tends to mis-state cyclically adjusted current account balances of large eurozone economies, researchers argue
IMF paper examines impact of debt restructurings on growth
Growth usually declines after debt restructurings, but it can boost performance if the country exits a default spell, the authors find
UK MPs urge separation of Financial Conduct Authority functions
Parliamentary committee suggests enforcement is separated from the FCA in a report on HBOS failure; the authority says this would inhibit its ability to act as a regulator
Jamaica’s monthly inflation turns positive
It increases to 0.2%, but annual inflation slides to 2.1%; Bank of Jamaica still confident that inflation will fall within the target range for 2016/17
Irish central bankers take first look at effectiveness of macroprudential housing policies
Ireland’s central bank publishes examination of its first full year of operating macroprudential measures affecting the housing market; compares data on borrowers subject and free from limits
IMF changes method for calculating SDR currency amounts
IMF will switch to new SDR basket in October, including renminbi for the first time; calculation will use new rounding methodology aimed at minimising deviation from weightings
Nepal to introduce interest corridor in August
There will be an initial large ‘wedge’ between rates when first introduced, official says; policy rate and floor of corridors set in relation to interbank average
Njoroge cites need to anchor expectations as Central Bank of Kenya holds
Monetary policy committee keeps policy rate at 10.5%; increase in fuel tax expected to put temporary pressure on prices, but not to push inflation outside target range
Exposure to sovereign risk may limit banks’ ability to attract deposits – IMF paper
Research shows non-linear relationship between exposure to sovereign risk and deposit outflows; exposure negatively affected growth of consumer deposits 2006-2011
EBA lays out policy options to deal with NPLs
The European Banking Authority issues report on non-performing loans, calling for consideration of ‘bad banks’ and formations of databases on collateral assets such as real estate
Ratings agency fined €1.38 million by Esma for regulatory breaches
The European Securities and Markets Authority fines Fitch for improper discussions of information and mishandling timing of Slovenia’s sovereign downgrade
331,000 counterfeit notes withdrawn in H1 2016 – ECB
Figures show 80% of all the counterfeits were €20 and €50 notes; number of total counterfeits withdrawn in first half of 2016 lower year on year
Do not let resilience foster complacency, Carney tells G20
In his capacity as FSB chair Mark Carney acknowledges financial system resilience in the face of stress, but emphasises need to finish implementing post-crisis reforms
Menon pledges tougher measures on AML controls in Singapore
Ravi Menon says central bank will conduct more intrusive probes of higher-risk institutions and take stronger actions where practices fall short; monetary policy likely on hold for 2016