Central Banks
Central Bank of Colombia raises rates for fourth consecutive month
Bank raises benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.25% as annual growth is expected to reach 5% this year on the back of jump in household spending
Bank of Russia-owned Sberbank hit with EU sanctions
EU list of sanctioned state-owned banks includes central bank-owned Sberbank, despite the US leaving it off its list this week
Argentina default may threaten central bank reserves
Developments this week could spell trouble for central bank; analyst says markets have overlooked Argentina's ‘heavy' debt repayment schedule going into next year
Polish paper proposes new model for risk of ‘double default' on collateralised loans
Commonly used Gaussian copula-based approach does not properly capture the residual risk to central bank balance sheets posed by correlated defaults
Mundra named RBI deputy governor
Reserve Bank of India announces the appointment of Subhash Sheoratan Mundra, formerly head of Bank of Baroda, as deputy governor
Better budgeting tools could encourage low earners to switch from cash to card
Researchers find that low earners prefer to use cash over the debit card because they find it more effective as a monitoring and budgeting tool
Opinion: Sepa opens borders for European money
ECB’s director-general of market infrastructure and payments reflects on the successful creation of the single euro payments area, its beneficial impacts and the payment cards challenge to come
Fed's Plosser dissents over unchanged forward guidance in face of US 'rebound'
Janet Yellen sees second dissent since taking the Federal Reserve chair in January; FOMC language suggests members are becoming more sanguine about economic trajectory
Nigeria SWF to manage $350m for national electricity buyer
Finance minister backs deal, saying Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority will deliver a better return than the central bank
IMF endorses Japan's QQE despite slowing progress to 2% inflation target
IMF says Bank of Japan does not need to intensify its QQE programme ‘at this point’, though BoJ policy-maker Kiuchi says 2% inflation may need to be a 'long-term' goal
BoE working group finds ‘striking' changes in investment behaviour by insurers and pension funds
Nature of investments has changed markedly over the past 15 years, says Andrew Haldane-led group, which also includes Oxford professor Ian Goldin and Jim O'Neill
SNB reports profit of almost $18bn for first half of the year
Swiss National Bank recovers from $10bn loss in 2013; profit on foreign currency positions amounts to Sfr 12.6bn, while gold holdings see Sfr 3.5bn valuation gain
Central Bank of Brazil yet to see effects of tightening cycle
Inflation 'still shows resistance', July minutes note; bank lowered reserve requirements for lenders last week in bid to inject additional liquidity into Brazilian economy
BIS paper with New York Fed unveils new measure of underlying inflation
Economists from the Bank for International Settlements and Federal Reserve Bank of New York present a new measure that can be updated on a daily basis
Reza Moghadam quits IMF to join Morgan Stanley in London
IMF's Europe chief to 'return home' after 22 years with the Fund, lately ‘spearheading the Fund's response from one crisis to the next'; Thomsen promoted on an interim basis
Central Bank of Nigeria inks deal to set up credit fund for small businesses
Governor Godwin Emefiele signs MoU with state governments on $1.4 billion fund to lower lending rates for SMEs, but critics call for speedier remedies
Atiur Rahman demands authorities tackle maturity mismatch in financial sector
Bangladesh Bank governor encourages long-term saving through life insurers and pension funds, in an attempt to generate more housing and infrastructure financing; also supports market development
Eurozone banks ease credit standards for first time since crisis hit in 2007
ECB bank lending survey shows that more banks eased credit standards than tightened them in second quarter of 2014
Bank of Russia ready to act to cushion bank sanctions blow
US and EU sanctions are aimed at state-owned banks and could cover central bank-owned Sberbank - but sanctioning the Bank of Russia itself remains unthinkable
HKMA chief rejects use of $400bn fund for social purposes
Norman Chan says the HKMA’s exchange fund is the ‘last line of defence’ for financial stability and should be maintained as a buffer against ‘unforeseeable shocks and crises’
Bank of England unveils plans to lock up bankers' bonuses for seven years
New rule will mean financial sector bonuses can be 'clawed back' for up to seven years, but the BoE is also proposing bonuses are locked up until that period expires
IMF warns monetary tightening could hit EM growth
Advanced economies should collaborate with emerging markets, Fund says, to mitigate spillover effects of monetary tightening; says global imbalances remain too high
Spanish economists see short-run benefits in structural reforms
Working paper published by Bank of Spain says product and labour market reforms could boost output and employment now and in the future