Central Banks
Peru adopts measures to reduce credit dollarisation
Peru’s central bank lowers the reserve requirement for local currency loans to 9% as part of a suite of measures aimed at boosting financial stability
Basel Committee revamps approach to credit risk models
Separate consultations set out improvements to standardised credit risk modelling approaches and make proposals for a capital floor; seek to reduce use of external ratings
Impact of ECB unconventional policies depends on bank capitalisation, finds Belgian paper
ECB crisis measures have greater impact on GDP growth in countries where banks are well capitalised, researchers find
Bahrain governor defends capital ratios
Rasheed Mohammed Al Maraj argues capital requirements ‘are not arbitrary, or excessive or punitive’ as they are necessary to prevent excessive risk-taking
Mauritius reappoints former governor
Rameswurlall Basant Roi returns after eight years following the reported ousting of Rundheersing Bheenick in December; new deputy also appointed
Central Bank of Brazil extends swap auctions
Brazil’s central bank will continue to hold daily foreign-exchange swap auctions until March, but has reduced the amount on offer from $200 million to $100 million a day
BIS paper finds US spillovers impact through long-term rates
Researchers show US monetary policy spills over into Asian economies mainly through long-term interest rates and suggest policy options
Sejko lined up as next Bank of Albania governor
Albanian prime minister says parliament ‘will not reject’ the president’s nomination; former bank inspector Gent Sejko set to return to the central bank after a decade away
Bernanke laments scripted policy meetings
Former Fed chair tells Mervyn King that meetings are ‘deadly boring’ as most of the work is done in advance; both men reflect on the crisis for BBC Radio 4’s Today programme
2014: The year in review
The past year has seen central banks across the globe grapple with reform, at an institutional and global level – we look back at the biggest stories of 2014
Riksbank critic becomes deputy governor
Henry Ohlsson, an economics professor who attacked the Swedish central bank for failing to reach its inflation target in a report earlier this year, is picked to replace Karolina Ekholm
FSB pushes countries to meet higher information exchange standards
Financial Stability Board publishes latest progress report on information sharing, with thirteen jurisdictions still lagging behind; updates list of ‘financially important’ economies
BoE research identifies strong impact from long-term unemployment on inflation
Working paper finds evidence that models incorporating linear Phillips curves are underestimating the effect of long-term unemployment on wage inflation
Canadians want more women on banknotes, poll shows
Bank of Canada’s banknotes should reflect more gender equality and a better celebration of women, according to the Canadians who participated in an online survey by the central bank
BIS paper finds transmission of low policy rates to lending rates has weakened
There has been a ‘strong increase’ in the gap between the lending rate and the policy rate since the global financial crisis, a BIS working paper suggests
HKMA finds signs of forex manipulation at banks
Investigation into forex market manipulation turns up two cases of misconduct but finds no collusion between banks; six banks criticised for communication ‘indiscretions’
German investments would generate ‘beneficial' regional spillovers, finds IMF paper
The expansionary effect of higher public investment in Germany ‘substantially strengthened' when supported by an accommodative monetary policy stance, according to working paper
People: Fritz Zurbrügg appointed as SNB vice-chair; Vanoli gets nod from Argentine senate
SNB reshuffles board, with Zurbrügg assuming vice-chair after Danthine retires; Luis Linde replaces Ignacio Visco at the steering committee of the European Systemic Risk Board
MEPs strike deal to cap card payment fees
European Parliament reaches agreement on limits to the fees banks can charge retailers for processing payments in a bid to lower prices and tackle perverse incentives
Fed changes forward guidance
Janet Yellen says FOMC ‘can be patient' in normalising monetary policy, but says new language does not signal change in outlook; Fisher, Plosser and Kocherlakota dissent
Bank of South Sudan keen for exchange rate reform
IMF report finds authorities keen to create a single exchange rate, launch two-way fixed rate auctions and establish an interbank market for foreign exchange
Banque de France paper says asset purchases may struggle to anchor rates
Working paper suggests asset purchases could be a way to anchor interbank rates, but the policy faces a number of difficulties; absorbing excess liquidity another option