Central Banks
Nowotny sees ‘strange irony’ in Austrian success
Central bank governor argues policy-makers made Austria economically successful by acting contrary to the libertarian approach favoured by the Austrian School of economics
Greek governor wants surplus countries to recognise ‘toxic’ effect of austerity
Yannis Stournaras warns surplus countries must bear a share of the burden of adjustment in Europe or risk the rise of extreme political parties; says he is optimistic a deal is ‘not far away’
Nigerian central bankers accused of banknote ‘mega scam’
Six accused of taking more than $25 million worth of old banknotes that were meant to be destroyed; Economic and Financial Crime Commission says they will ‘face the wrath of the law’
Buyer sought for RBNZ securities settlement system
Reserve Bank of New Zealand looks to sell NZClear after deciding it is no longer a ‘core business'; sell-off part of payment system facelift
Assessing risks from household debt is a complex task, Riksbank study finds
Economic commentary says risks in household sector seem high, but assessing them properly depends on a host of factors that keep changing and data that may not be available
BoE paper questions dominance of Normal distribution
Using the t distribution and time-varying variance improves a vector autoregression’s fit with the data and forecasting performance, researchers find
People: Fed names payments director; Denmark appoints assistant governors
Federal Reserve chooses Gordon Werkema to lead its new payments strategy; Denmark promotes director of administration and adds second assistant governor; and more
Stanley Fischer praises BoE financial stability set-up as ‘leading model’
Fed vice-chair explores different arrangements for financial stability and concludes separate committee within central bank is a good model; does not rule out leaning against wind
Banks are de-risking due to lack of regulatory direction
Banks are struggling to balance growing compliance costs with the need for a risk-based approach to individual client accounts. Regulatory guidance isn’t helping, a London conference hears
Menon praises Asian strides in face of new bank regulation
Ravi Menon and San Francisco Fed's John Williams discussed banking reforms at one of three events hosted by Monetary Authority of Singapore last week
Boston Fed president preaches patience
Eric Rosengren says it is too soon to know whether weaker economic activity at start of year is down to temporary factors or ‘broader changes in the economy’
IMF pushes Belarus to adopt new policy framework
International Monetary Fund tells National Bank of Belarus to adopt monetary targeting framework ‘without further delay’; staff and national authorities disagree over exchange rate
St. Louis Fed’s Bullard makes case for NGDP target
Working paper questions appropriate monetary policy response at zero lower bound and explores the mechanics of a ‘special upward adjustment’ in the price level on credit market
Basel considers U-turn on fourth trading book QIS
Industry lobbying prompts regulator to revive plans for a further impact study
BoE research warns failure to capture money creation distorts DSGE models
Working paper offers ‘essential ingredients’ of a DSGE model that recognises bank lending as the source of money creation, with significant implications for economic modelling
FCA’s Wheatley highlights complexity of banking cultural reform
As banks are hit with yet more record-breaking fines, the head of the UK’s financial watchdog argues they are trying to change their ways, but the job is not a straightforward one
IMF paper argues technological slowdown not main driver of weak productivity
Working paper finds slower US productivity growth is more due to reduced efficiency in combining factors of production than a declining pace of technological progress
IMF sees limits to Norway ‘leaning against the wind’
Article IV conclusion says macro-prudential policy should be first line of defence, but governor Øystein Olsen still sees role for monetary policy
Austria to repatriate third of gold reserves
Central bank plans to move gold out of the UK and into Austria and Switzerland after court of audit raises concern over ‘high concentration risk’