Central Banks
FX regulator probes AUD spike prior to policy announcement
Australia's authorities look into sudden moves in the Australian dollar's value ahead of RBA monetary policy announcements
Malaysia launches new payments system to boost online transactions
Malaysia’s central bank aims to simplify online payments with new ‘JomPAY’ platform, which has the goal of reaching 5,000 merchants by 2020 and reducing usage of cash and cheques
Varoufakis defends reshaped Greek reform agenda
Greek finance minister says extension bought time for a ‘serious conversation’ with creditors and outlines ways in which he wants reforms to differ from troika prescriptions
Fed research: Three channels of shadow banking fragility
Working paper models the increased fragility created by shadow banks, even though they provide higher levels of credit to the economy
ECB research assesses fiscal impact of bailouts
ECB paper analyses the impact on a government’s fiscal position of assistance measures; finds majority of the financial needs (4.9% of 5.1% of GDP) were recorded is first three crisis years
FOMC minutes: Fed cautious about June rate hike
Minutes highlight split in views of those who think rates should rise in June and those who would rather wait; Dudley and Powell give speeches urging care
Brazil’s inflation climbs to 8% despite rate hikes
Annual CPI inflation hit 8.13% in March, the highest since 2003, due to a double-digit hike in energy prices; central bank is expected to continue to raise interest rates
Korea’s record rates have further to fall, says economist
Rate cuts still look to be on the horizon despite the Bank of Korea holding steady at record lows today, says economist; government also likely to have to provide further stimulus
Chilean paper analyses unemployment’s impact on wages
The impact of unemployment spells on wages is high, but the volatility ‘increases much more during recessions’, research finds
Bank Negara Malaysia and MIT Sloan to set up joint business school
The Asia School of Business will open next year on the central bank's premises; will host inaugural class of 25-35 students in a two-year MBA programme
Central Bank of Argentina publishes secret minutes from last dictatorship
Argentina’s central bank releases minutes from secret board meetings during the country’s last dictatorship, which will "shed some light on one of Argentina’s darkest periods", says governor
Russia’s Nabiullina dismisses QE possibility
Bank of Russia governor says quantitative easing is not on the table but further rate cuts are likely; sees signs that tough policy stance is working as ruble begins to recover
Former Bulgarian deputy charged with ‘abuse of office’
Rumen Simeonov accused by prosecutor of not taking action on failed Corporate Commercial Bank despite knowing the institution was in trouble
Bank of Finland paper tests price-level based forward guidance
Seppo Honkapohja and Kaushik Mitra use ‘adaptive learning’ approach to show price-level targeting can outperform inflation targeting under some circumstances
US has chance to maintain leadership despite China’s AIIB
London School of Economics’ Danny Quah tells Central Banking the US must not cling dogmatically to its view of the world if it is to remain influential – and sharing power need not be all bad
Balkanisation of bank lending has made recipient countries safer, says IMF
Analytical chapter from upcoming financial stability report highlights benefits of reduction in certain cross-border credit flows
Linde: ECB’s QE is already ‘bearing fruit’
Households and families are enjoying better financing conditions due to the ECB’s quantitative easing programme, argues Luis Linde, governor of the Bank of Spain
Chilean paper calls on policy-makers to consider source of shocks
Policy-makers in Chile ‘have to take into account the source of the shock when evaluating possible policy options’ in response to copper price shocks, research finds
Iran nuclear deal paves way to lift central bank sanctions
Deal struck between Iran and UN paves way for tough sanctions on the central bank to be lifted and Iranian banks to return to Swift payments system
BoE’s FPC flags climate change financial stability risks
Financial policy committee divides issue into physical risks and transitional risks, seeing some potential for instability from climate change but calling for further research
Colombian paper analyses intraday liquidity needs
Intraday liquidity risks can be ‘mitigated or even eliminated’ if entities have higher opening balances than the balances required to opportunely liquidate all payment obligations, paper finds
Bank of Portugal launches mobile app
Users can access key statistical indicators for Portugal and the eurozone, calculate foreign exchange rates and obtain interest rate simulations, in the first Portuguese central bank app
Bundesbank's Dombret: shadow banking oversight is 'miles away'
Regulators may never be able to fully monitor the risks created by shadow banking, says Bundesbank board member