Central Banks
Ex-governor calls for tighter cap on government borrowing from Malawi central bank
Former governor campaigns for greater operational independence of the Reserve Bank of Malawi and further protection against fiscal dominance
RMB now second most used payments currency between China and Japan
The Chinese currency more than doubles share of payments between China/Hong Kong and Japan in two years, eclipsing US and Hong Kong dollars while yen retains number one spot
BoJ’s Kiuchi wants to reduce flow of QQE
Board member says reduced flow of asset purchases would help relieve ‘excessive pressure’ on the Japanese government bond market and make monetary policy more ‘sustainable and stable’
Riksbank deputy open to scrapping CPI as target variable
Quirks of Swedish CPI make it awkward for use as the monetary policy target variable, Per Jansson says; bringing back tolerance band also a possibility
Bank of Israel unveils real-time payments plan
New payments infrastructure will support push for advanced electronic payments; committee chair identifies plans for wide range of payments improvements, including real time
Bank of Russia presents strategic plan for financial sector
Bank of Russia aims to create financial ombudsman, update regulatory regime and develop bond market as part of first strategic development plan
ECB extends asset purchases to March 2017 or beyond and cuts deposit rate
European Central Bank will continue buying assets until at least March 2017 as part of latest easing package; Draghi describes deposit rate as ‘driver’ of policy as council cuts it to -0.3%
Sarb deputy sees opportunity for reserve managers in Fed hike
Daniel Mminele encourages reserve managers to focus on the ‘investment horizon’ to take advantage of higher yields in the wake of Fed action
Advice can affect clients' mortgage choices, says BIS paper
Banks may ‘steer’ households towards certain mortgage types; distorted information has a stronger affect when prices are not adjusted
Yellen signals growing confidence ahead of Fed decision
Fed chair expects some key headwinds to inflation to diminish next year; continued improvements in labour market and stable expectations help ‘bolster’ her confidence in a return to target
Domestic euro users bear highest shoe leather costs, Bank of Italy paper finds
Euros circulate widely outside the eurozone, transferring some costs to foreigners – but the effect is small relative to the popularity of the euro as a global currency
Turkish MPC has eyes on inflation and loan growth
The monetary policy committee of Turkey’s central bank notes year-on-year inflation fell due to drops in energy and food prices; cautious on currency depreciation and falling loan rates
PBoC deputy governor says reforms will continue beyond SDR inclusion
Yi Gang welcomes IMF decision on SDR, says China will not ease off on reforms; inclusion was seen as inevitable in recent weeks, but Central Banking poll highlights earlier uncertainty
BoJ deputy says underlying inflation has ‘steadily’ improved
Kikuo Iwata says CPI inflation, excluding energy and fresh food, has been making a positive contribution of around 1% recently; discusses latest projections
Bean calls for overhaul of UK statistics
Report dissecting UK statistics production calls for national statistics office to become more agile, make use of new forms of data, and tackle shortcomings
Norges Bank paper proposes linking CCP risk management to capital charges
Author recommends stress tests of CCPs to gauge interconnectedness, and proposes higher capital charges for CCPs with weaker risk management
ECB survey finds ‘access to finance’ least of eurozone SME problems
The European Central Bank’s survey of eurozone enterprises finds deleveraging is continuing at a slow pace while few firms rate lack of access to finance as their major problem
‘Gradual and low’ may be new normal for Fed, Brainard says
Lael Brainard says lower neutral interest rates and stubborn inflation make it likely the federal funds rate will need to be tightened ‘more gradually and to a lower level’ than in the past