Central Banks
G-20 report says move from stabilisation to growth requires ‘difficult balancing act’
G-20 meeting report urges carefully calibrated fiscal tightening to ‘nurture’ recovery; backs accommodative monetary policy and says emerging markets should use rapid growth to build buffers
African growth could be ‘derailed’ by geopolitical tensions
South African Reserve Bank fears terrorism in continent’s key growth economies and heightened risk of social unrest could harm Africa’s growth prospects; also concerned by domestic unemployment
Polish paper examines banks’ risks when state safety net grows
Study finds that banks in central Europe take higher levels of risks under a larger deposit insurance scheme; less so in times of financial crisis
ECB annual report strikes hopeful note at end of rough year
Report highlights peak in financial market stress in mid-year, but says policy measures were effective in reducing this later in year; inflation above target and growth on downward slide
Omani central bank to join government drive for more SME lending
Omani authorities hope to increase jobs in the private sector by stimulating the flow of credit to small and medium-sized companies
ECB says ‘difficult to do more’ as pressure mounts for more action
Further deterioration in eurozone data leads some to predict ECB rate cut at May meeting and possible SME ‘support package’; ECB executives signal action still unlikely
ECB’s Cœuré says cashless society is neither likely nor desirable
Executive board member believes cash is too popular to phase out, but should be made more efficient; €5 note awareness campaign shows mixed results
Fed to release new $100 bill in October after three-year delay
New $100 bill with new security features is finally ready to enter circulation, after 'creasing' issues caused delays in 2011
Bank of Canada annual report highlights banknote success
New series of polymer banknotes introduced in 2012 as counterfeiting continues to fall; inflation kept shackled throughout year but falls below target in December
The Dutch are ‘poorly informed’ about country’s debt
Central bank survey finds that the Netherlands’ population underestimates the size of the country’s public debt, and wrongly attributes its creation to support for banks and other European governments
Bank of England ups incentives for increased SME lending
BoE in conjunction with Treasury introduces new incentives in a bid to get credit to struggling small business sector
ECB paper seeks to boost predictive power of macroeconomic models
Research analyses and seeks to supplement the predictive power of the three main families of macroeconomic models – DFM, DSGE and VAR – used by central banks
Bank of Italy research finds evidence of investors ‘waking up’ to sovereign risk
Working paper suggests widening eurozone sovereign spreads caused by ‘complacent’ investors suddenly paying closer attention to risks
Australia to shift 5% of foreign reserves to China
Deputy governor Philip Lowe reveals the Reserve Bank of Australia will invest around 5% of its foreign exchange reserves in China; Asian economists divided over significance of move
NY Fed president dispenses policy advice to European and US governments
William Dudley tells European policy-makers that moving forward with banking union is critical, while the US government should be worrying more about its fiscal outlook
European Parliament claims substantive agreement on EU bank resolution legislation
Vote on legislation for harmonised recovery and resolution processes postponed till May, but European Parliament says it has reached agreement on all the main points
Barnier takes Bernanke to task over foreign bank rules
Letter from European commissioner to Fed chief says proposed rules for foreign banks put global efforts at regulatory harmony in jeopardy and could spark ‘protectionist reaction’
BoE’s McCafferty denies Monetary Policy Committee has ‘gone soft’
MPC member highlights positive signs for growth but says inflation is ‘more concerning’; expects inflation to remain above target but says a response is not yet necessary
Independent Scotland would face ‘significant risks’ under sterling union, says Westminster
UK government report points to drawbacks of all the currency options for an independent Scotland; refuses to back Scotland’s preference for a sterling union
Bank of Japan deputy governor warns over ‘fallacy of composition'
Role of central banks has evolved to include market-maker of last resort and global lender of last resort; however, they must keep a macro-prudential perspective
UK economists divided over BoJ easing
Treasury Select Committee witnesses debate whether BoJ radical easing will overcome decade of deflation; economists fear an ‘unruly spike’ in yields when quantitative easing is unwound
Central Bank of the Philippines continues forex liberalisation drive
Relaxed rules for onshore foreign exchange transactions aim to cope with rising demand and encourage public to move informal transactions into the banking system
Maduro picks central bank chief for Venezuela's finance minister
Nelson Merentes will be finance minister and central bank governor for the time being; analysts see his appointment as part of a shift to a more 'pragmatic chavismo'