Central Banks
Sama governor calls for subsidy cuts
Fahad Al-Mubarak says the Saudi Arabian economy is being hampered by various inefficiencies, including excessive subsidies on energy and water
Dallas Fed report calls for better understanding of global finance
Globalisation annual report urges monetary policy-makers to take account of global financial flows and seeks a better understanding of interdependence
Greenspan: Eurozone could collapse without political union
Former Fed chair Alan Greenspan says it is ‘very difficult’ to imagine the eurozone remaining intact without political union, while it is ‘just a matter of time’ before Greece departs
Visco highlights ‘inadequate’ stock of human capital in Italy
Bank of Italy governor calls for better education and training to help develop the ‘right skills and capabilities’ necessary for the country to achieve higher growth
Danish central bank prepared to cut rates further in defence of peg
‘We haven’t yet found any absolute lower bound' for the deposit rate, Danish governor tells Central Banking, but acknowledges potential for strain on payments system
Belarus eyes policy overhaul
National Bank of the Republic of Belarus says it will exercise ‘tight control’ over the money supply in an effort to shackle inflation; questions over where this leaves exchange rate peg
Boston Fed’s Rosengren flags key elements of successful QE
Eric Rosengren sets out the most successful design features from the Fed’s experience of quantitative easing and hints ‘other parts of the globe’ may have acted too late
Good data vital for effective financial inclusion policies
With the World Bank soon to release the first update to its global financial inclusion database, Central Banking speaks to the Alliance for Financial Inclusion on the importance of good data
Riksbank: Economic activity in Sweden ‘at a standstill'
Central bank survey shows companies still being hampered by the slow recovery in Europe, leading them to try cutting costs to increase margins
Lagarde tells G-20 to act now and boost growth
IMF managing director warns that without action the ‘global economic supertanker’ could remain ‘stuck in the shallow waters of sub-par growth and meagre job creation’
People: IMF names new deputy; Brazil in line for two as well
Christine Lagarde wants to appoint an adviser of the Japanese government as deputy managing director; Brazil’s central bank governor proposes two new deputies in a reshuffle; and more
Chan welcomes code of conduct for Hong Kong bankers
HKMA chief executive praises stricter code of conduct, which seeks to improve banking culture, promote competition and protect consumers
Denmark cuts deposit rate for fourth time in three weeks
Governor Lars Rohde says central bank will defend peg to euro ‘for as long as it takes', adding there is ‘no upper limit' to FX reserves as key rate is cut to -0.75%
ECB publishes new economic bulletin
The first in the new series, introduced to ‘mirror’ new governing council meeting cycle, features an assessment of the Chinese economic outlook
Czech paper examines link between financial variables and macroeconomy
Financial variables ‘particularly relevant’ in explaining Czech macroeconomic developments in the lead-up to and during downturns, researchers find
Weidmann prescribes dose of discipline for eurozone
Bundesbank president says governments must accept liability for their own fiscal actions; sees no ‘urgent need’ for QE and warns of policy side effects
Ukrainian hryvnia drops 30% after central bank action
Currency in freefall after National Bank of Ukraine scraps subsidised forex auctions and simultaneously increases its key discount rate by 550bp
ECB’s collateral move adds pressure to Greek negotiations
Decision to cease accepting some Greek debt as collateral two weeks earlier than necessary turns banks toward ELA and adds pressure to political negotiations
Pakistan targets automated cash management in five years
State Bank of Pakistan aims to automate cash management and urges commercial banks to follow suit; deputy governor says it will help ensure only clean and genuine notes circulate
Meltzer accuses Fed of three ‘major’ errors
Writing in the Central Banking Journal, Allan Meltzer argues the Fed continued QE for too long, while relying too heavily on ‘noisy’ data and too little on monetary and credit aggregates
IMF: Pan-African banks pose oversight challenges
Report highlights need to reconcile regional and national interests in currency unions in the continent to ensure effective regulation and supervision
Wheeler: RBNZ will ‘talk more’ about housing
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand will focus on the market in coming months, Wheeler says, with house price inflation ‘increasing again’ in Auckland
Impact study postponed for Basel rate-risk project
An impact study for a Basel Committee proposal on the standardised regulation of banking book interest rate risk has been pushed back. Regulators blame the delay on banks' IT constraints