Central Banks
People: Fed appoints new director; Ghana and Uzbekistan add deputies
Matthew Eichner named director of reserve bank operations and payment systems at the Fed board; Bank of Ghana and Central Bank of Uzbekistan name new deputy governors
SNB officials fend off latest ideas for reform
Thomas Jordan and Jean Studer warn of the damage that could be done by proposals including sovereign money, broader mandate and using reserves to create sovereign wealth fund
Rajan sided with the consensus, minutes show
RBI governor cuts rates in line with views of external advisers; four of the five members wanted to reduce the repo rate at the April 5 meeting
‘Challenging' year spurs diversification of Hong Kong's exchange fund
HKMA says it is accelerating its process of reserves diversification after it was hit by a "triple whammy" in all major asset classes in 2015
IMF staff weigh options for tackling Chinese NPLs
Technical note authored by three IMF employees considers how securitising NPLs or converting them to equity might work in the Chinese context; latest CBRC figures show the stock is growing
Book notes: Lehman Brothers: a crisis of value, by Oonagh McDonald
McDonald's book offers a useful synopsis of the multiple failings at Lehman Brothers running up to 2008, but ultimately fails to add significantly to what was already known
Nonlinear models struggle to outperform VARs, Azerbaijani paper finds
Central bank’s first working paper finds various different nonlinear forecasting models perform poorly against autoregressive and VAR models, and even random walks
Bean welcomes bid to increase ONS access to public data
Reforming the legal framework will improve ONS access to administrative data, former BoE deputy says, adding the ONS must be more proactive in acquiring and producing data
Liberia appoints board member as new governor
Liberian president appoints Milton Weeks to lead central bank; new appointee was commercial banker and investment adviser
RBI plans to regulate nascent P2P market
Central bank proposes bringing peer-to-peer lending within its regulatory remit, fearing lack of oversight might lead the rapidly growing sector to develop “unhealthy practices”
Wheeler says further easing may be needed as RBNZ holds
Wheeler says interest rate cuts could be needed, though the RBNZ kept its key rate at 2.25% today; mixed picture with dairy export prices improving but currency still high
BoJ holds policy despite weakening expectations
Yen climbs as policy board keeps interest rates and asset purchases at existing levels; growth and inflation forecasts cut while there is “considerable uncertainty” around the outlook
Fed holds and drops reference to global risks
Federal Open Market Committee holds federal funds rate as widely expected; suggests growth in economic activity has slowed but concerns about global developments have eased
Panellists at ECB conference challenge complexity of macro-prudential set-up
Public and private sector representatives agree it is too early to judge macro-prudential framework; identify some positive elements but raise concerns about institutional complexity
BoE’s Cunliffe notes ‘gap’ between bank return and investor expectation
Investors should be prepared for lower returns in the coming year, Bank of England deputy says; risks to the housing market show signs of reducing but FPC poised to act if necessary
Time ‘ripe’ to consolidate public banks – RBI’s Gandhi
Consolidation could help banks spread their risk and compete on a global scale, deputy governor says – though they may need a “nudge” from government to get going
Rajan’s salary makes him a bargain among G20 governors
Indian governor takes home an unusually small sum each year compared with some other G20 governors, and comes out favourably on other metrics too
Researchers explore link between rates and consumption in new model
Working paper published by ECB examines transmission mechanism of monetary policy in a heterogeneous agent New Keynesian model
Malaysian deputy picked to succeed Zeti
Muhammad bin Ibrahim will be handed five-year term effective May 1; analysts point to potential challenges from growth slowdown and capital outflows
Fijian annual report shows ‘huge decline’ in mobile money active agents
Reserve Bank of Fiji documents 84% decrease in registered active agents, while number of people registered for mobile money increased
EBA publishes first complete list of European O-SIIs
European Banking Authority publishes first full list of other systemically important institutions in Europe; some national supervisors make more use of discretion than others
ECB paper explores public and private employment link
Research contradicts literature that claims an increase in public employment crowds out private employment, at least in recessions