News
Philippines leads improvement in Brookings financial inclusion rankings
The Central Bank of the Philippines says rapid progress last year reflects the success of its financial inclusion strategy; Brookings report highlights the importance of a wide-ranging approach
Basel reports target gaps in CCP resolution framework
Reports by CPMI-Iosco and FSB find there are still gaps in CCPs’ implementation of recovery and risk management principles and regulators need to think more about resolution planning
Okun’s law is empirically robust but presents modelling problems, researchers say
Economists need to find more sophisticated methods to model the relationship between financial and labour markets, say the authors of an occasional paper published by the ECB
Unconventional monetary policy does not rob the poor, Italian researchers argue
Studying the effects of the ECB’s quantitative easing programme on the wealth and incomes of 8,000 Italian households shows that the policies benefit the poorest, Bank of Italy paper argues
China to create own version of FX code
A newly established Chinese FX Committee is working on creating a Chinese version of the Global Code of Conduct, for domestic and foreign banks operating in the onshore market
PBoC gives World Bank green light as China’s first SDR bond issuer
World Bank to issue China’s first bond denominated in special drawing rights, in “landmark” step towards opening up Chinese bond market
People: BNM picks new assistant governor; Charlie Bean nominated to OBR post
Markets specialist takes over assistant governor role at Malaysian central bank; former BoE deputy to sit on budget oversight committee; new head of monetary policy research in Israel; and more
Blanchard sees reformed DSGE as ‘central’ to future of macroeconomics
Former IMF chief economist says DSGE models are “seriously flawed” but “eminently improvable”, and will have a leading role to play in the future
EBA suggests anti-money laundering measures for virtual currencies
Major new legislation or amendments needed to regulate payments in virtual currency, EBA says; suggests changes to proposed extension of regulation and calls for deadline for implementation
Chinese authorities should introduce inflation target – IMF staff
Report by IMF staff sets out ‘key elements’ of transition to more market-based monetary framework; encourages explicit inflation goal and new intermediate target for policy
Chilean central bank changes guidance and keeps policy on hold
Central Bank of Chile removes reference to continued normalisation as inflation returns to target range; holds benchmark rate at 3.5%
Anti-corruption unit investigates Curaçao and Sint Maarten central bank president
Anti-corruption unit conducts raid on Emsley Tromp’s home, confiscating documents and data carriers; investigation launched by finance minister on the back of ‘rumours and innuendos’
RBNZ cuts rates and expects inflation to weaken further in short term
New Zealand central bank expresses concern over falling inflation in economy generally and rapidly rising prices in housing sector
Indian train robbery sees nearly $1m in soiled banknotes snatched
Soiled banknotes destined for the RBI stolen from train on the way back from Salem; police investigating incident
Icelandic paper finds ‘striking’ ties between financial cycle and real economy
Authors identify strong financial cycle linked to global factors, which impacts macro variables including consumption and government spending; paper suggests range of policy responses
BoE researchers outline risk of collateral collapse
In stress periods, collateral chains could break, paper in forthcoming Journal of Financial Market Infrastructure warns
BoE bond purchases run into difficulties
Central bank fails to meet quota of long-dated government bond purchases despite offering a high price, pointing to an unusual failure of its bond-buying mechanism
Bank of Italy to receive €1bn for liquidating holding in equity firm
Italy’s central bank will gain about €1bn for liquidating its shareholding in an equity firm partly owned by the Italian state; holding began after the firm transferred stake in insurer
Reserve Bank of Australia governor backs 2–3% target in final address
Reserve Bank of Australia governor supports inflation-targeting regime in last public address; moving the target could open the door to further changes down the line, warns Stevens
Swift CEO gives network top marks despite Bangladesh Bank theft
‘No room’ for complacency says Leibbrandt, noting it is now up to the banks to upscale their security infrastructure
UK watchdog looks to new technology to ‘transform’ bank competition
Use of “open APIs” can enable easy data-sharing, which regulator hopes will give consumers clarity on bank charges and boost competition – though some see flaws in the plan
Argentinian central bank removes $5m dollar conversion cap
New measures aim to make it easier for businesses to acquire dollars; bank removes cap on dollar conversion and reduces paperwork involved
Rajan hopes new MPC will make next RBI policy statement
Reserve Bank of India keeps rates on hold in Rajan’s last decision before stepping down; he hopes the monetary policy committee will be up and running by next decision in October
Payments revamp should cut costs in Thailand, governor says
In an interview with Central Banking journal, Veerathai Santiprabhob lifts the lid on payment system reforms aimed at strengthening infrastructure and promoting debit card usage