News
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'
IMF publishes new reserve management guidelines
New additions encourage portfolio diversification, greater consideration of an investment's impact on the markets and internal credit rating assessments
Finance ministers warn US on extraterritoriality
Letter to US Treasury secretary says OTC rules should be applied within national borders only. Signatories include French, German, UK finance ministers
IMFC advocates ‘pragmatic’ approach to resisting capital flows
Committee of the IMF says easing by advanced economies is justified; emerging markets should use a variety of tools to lean against the resulting capital inflows
Riksbank deputy Lars Svensson steps down
Riksbank’s ‘most committed dove’ will leave the central bank in May after failing to win the other members of the Executive Board round to a more expansionary monetary policy
G-20 unconcerned about Japanese monetary easing
Meeting of G-20 finance ministers spent ‘much less time’ discussing currency moves than at their last meeting; warns US and others to watch for bubbles
Emerging markets demand greater say in IMF affairs
G-24 group of emerging markets and developing countries urges IMF members to accept reforms to voting shares, pointing to 'serious flaws' in current formula
BoE lending figures add credence to FLS scepticism
Business lending continues to contract in the UK, but pressure still mounts on the ECB to take steps to address eurozone recession
Thai central bank and government divided over rates
Bank of Thailand has resisted cutting rates in 2013 in the face of a strongly appreciating baht; IMF director says currency reflects the country and region's rebalancing
People: Iceland deputy handed second term; IMF appoints new statistics head
Arnór Sighvatsson gets second and final term at Central Bank of Iceland; Canadian ‘chief statistician' makes DC switch to head IMF stats office
National Bank of Poland updates 18-year-old banknote security
Security features of Polish banknotes to be overhauled in 2014; central bank keeping tight-lipped on the upgrades
Kocherlakota warns of consequences of ‘mandate-consistent' lower rates
Minneapolis Fed president highlights risks accompanying persistent low rates, but argues rates must go lower still to be consistent with dual mandate
Lagarde says ECB has ‘room to manoeuvre' on rates
IMF managing director says it up to ECB when to cut rates but calls for co-ordinated policies worldwide to shift ‘from three-speed to full speed' global recovery
FSB and IMF ‘animosity’ claim rejected
Think-tank report blasts lack of co-ordination between organisations in early warning exercise; FSB secretariat member rebuffs claims, and brands exercises a success
CPSS and Iosco start assessing compliance with FMI principles
Organisations begin process of monitoring ‘full, timely and consistent’ implementation of Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures across jurisdictions
Leap in renminbi trade strains PBoC exchange controls
Latest financial statistics show continued rapid rise in renminbi trade; PBoC deputy says exchange rate band may be widened again
King says independence is a tricky course to steer
BoE governor says central banks are expected to be partially, fully and non-independent in different parts of mandate, which is almost impossible; outvoted again at latest MPC meet
Bank of Israel director says central banks can 'overdo' liquidity
Andrew Abir identifies difficulty in providing the right amount of liquidity; says the risk of impairing market function was one worth taking
Arbitrage threat kept 'fallible' leverage ratio to 4%, says Vickers
Vickers says his 'blue skies thinking' leverage ratio would have been 10%, and adds stress testing avoids banks gaming the system
RBA counter-cyclical moves will be 'inevitable', says Commonwealth Bank economist
RBA monetary policy minutes released yesterday say scope remains for rate cuts later this year; commentators expect macro-prudential tools to 'become inevitable' to avoid a housing bubble
IMF flags growing risks from low interest rate environment
Global financial stability report urges caution by central banks employing loose monetary policy; says lack of adjustment to medium-term challenges could create ‘chronic phase’ of crisis
Fed demands more detailed 'living wills'
Federal Reserve and FDIC request additional information on risks that could derail resolution plans for largest bank holding companies, including issues of international co-operation