News
RBI hikes reserve ratio
Reserve Bank of India bids to counter risk that high food inflation could spark broader price pressures
Rate decisions this week
Majority of central banks to vote this week hold rates constant though dissent voiced in the US and South Africa; Philippines and India tighten, Hungary loosens
Senate backs Bernanke for second term
Lawmakers vote 70 to 30 in favour
FSA’s Turner wants new macroprudential body
The UK’s top regulator Adair Turner says a body other than the Bank of England is needed to implement macroprudential supervision
RBI hints at tightening ahead of policy meet
Reserve Bank of India flags inflation as “major concern” on eve of rate vote
Frank says Fed presidents shouldn’t vote on policy
Head of House Financial Services Committee labels heads of regional Federal Reserves “private citizens selected by other private citizens”
Reshape debt to prevent future crises: Bank’s Haldane
Bank of England director Andrew Haldane points to debt-equity swaps and contingent capital as means to avoid another debt crisis; says shareholder dividends should have been saved
Kansas’s Hoenig dissents at FOMC meeting
Kansas Fed president Thomas Hoenig votes against action to keep promise of extremely accommodative policy
NY Fed misrepresented French AIG position: Tarp overseer
Tarp overseer Neil Barofsky says Commission Bancaire would have helped secure haircuts from French counterparties of American International Group; comments contradict earlier claim by New York Fed
Geithner passes buck on AIG
Treasury Secretary says he did not make the decision to pay American International Group’s biggest counterparties 100 cents on the dollar
IIF sees sharp rise in emerging-market capital flows
Significant about-turn sees anticipated flows leap above 2008 figures; pick-up most marked in emerging Europe
Iceland cuts by 50 bp as króna stands ground
Unexpected reduction leaves borrowing costs at 9.5%, central bank notes Icesave debacle failed to impact króna
Denmark names professor new economics head
University of Copenhagen’s Peter Birch Sørensen to move to the National Bank of Denmark in April
IMF more upbeat on growth
Global economy now set to expand by 3.9% this year, according to World Economic Outlook Update
BoJ more optimistic on growth, deflation
Bank of Japan lifts economic projections in sign it sees policy as sufficient
Ex-governors and prominent academics in new forum
Former Argentine central bank governor Mario Blejer, former Bundesbank president Ernst Welteke and a slew of prominent academics will participate in a new forum
SARB split over rate hold
Majority opt to hold rates at 7%, governor discusses inflation-targeting review
S&P places Japan on negative watch
Rating agency argues fiscal leverage has diminished; decision comes after central bank opts not to extend quantitative easing
Redrado barred from central bank by police
The fall out between Argentine central bank head Martín Redrado and President Cristina Fernández escalates as police are posted outside the central bank to prevent him entering
Zimbabwe’s central bank ‘technically insolvent’: reports
Local media sources report that Zimbabwe’s central bank is bankrupt after high court judge orders that its property be attached to unpaid debts
Former Bank governor dies
Ex-Bank of England chief Lord Richardson passes away
Senior lawmaker calls for SARB nationalisation
African National Congress official says the South African Reserve Bank, one of the few privately-owned central banks, should be nationalised; comments seen as part of encroaching politicisation of policy
Hong Kong and Indonesia link settlement systems
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority and Bank Indonesia adopt a real time payment-versus-payment link to remove settlement risk
Obama's reforms find few friends
Markets and commentators reject the US president’s proposed reform of banks, which would see a ban imposed on proprietary trading