News
People: New governor for Central Bank of Venezuela; Bank of Lithuania gets new board member
Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro has nominated Edmée Betancourt to take over at the top of the central bank; Norges Bank economist to return home for Bank of Lithuania board seat; and more
BoJ board more optimistic on inflation forecast
Updated forecasts by board members show expectations creeping closer to 2% target; lack of further monetary easing disappoints markets
Hong Kong consolidates dominance as offshore RMB hub
HKMA annual report shows continued rapid rise in renminbi trade flowing through Hong Kong; new Hibor fixing seen as latest manoeuvre to stay ahead of competition
Winston Churchill to appear on Bank of England’s next new banknote
UK set to release new £5 banknote series in 2016 featuring portrait of former prime minister Winston Churchill; honours his parliamentary and literary work
IMF calls for unconventional measures to tackle eurozone fragmentation
David Lipton says ECB will probably have to use unconventional measures to overcome credit crunch in peripheral eurozone members
Hong Kong to launch offshore renminbi benchmark rates
Treasury Markets Association plans to introduce a range of offshore renminbi interbank rates, to ‘spearhead’ development of offshore renminbi markets
Korean economy defies won strength to return to growth
South Korean economy posts strongest quarter-on-quarter growth in two years; currency remains "moderately weaker than desirable", according to IMF
Ireland chases €1bn saving with payments overhaul
Central bank launches new initiative to curb high cash and cheque use and boost electronic payments; proposals include possibility of scrapping one and two cent coins
Banks to blame for regulatory fragmentation, says Basel Committee’s Coen
Bank lobbying has encouraged national supervisors to water down global standards, says deputy secretary-general of Basel Committee
Omani central bank to join government drive for more SME lending
Omani authorities hope to increase jobs in the private sector by stimulating the flow of credit to small and medium-sized companies
ECB says ‘difficult to do more’ as pressure mounts for more action
Further deterioration in eurozone data leads some to predict ECB rate cut at May meeting and possible SME ‘support package’; ECB executives signal action still unlikely
ECB’s Cœuré says cashless society is neither likely nor desirable
Executive board member believes cash is too popular to phase out, but should be made more efficient; €5 note awareness campaign shows mixed results
Fed to release new $100 bill in October after three-year delay
New $100 bill with new security features is finally ready to enter circulation, after 'creasing' issues caused delays in 2011
Bank of England ups incentives for increased SME lending
BoE in conjunction with Treasury introduces new incentives in a bid to get credit to struggling small business sector
Australia to shift 5% of foreign reserves to China
Deputy governor Philip Lowe reveals the Reserve Bank of Australia will invest around 5% of its foreign exchange reserves in China; Asian economists divided over significance of move
European Parliament claims substantive agreement on EU bank resolution legislation
Vote on legislation for harmonised recovery and resolution processes postponed till May, but European Parliament says it has reached agreement on all the main points
Barnier takes Bernanke to task over foreign bank rules
Letter from European commissioner to Fed chief says proposed rules for foreign banks put global efforts at regulatory harmony in jeopardy and could spark ‘protectionist reaction’
Independent Scotland would face ‘significant risks’ under sterling union, says Westminster
UK government report points to drawbacks of all the currency options for an independent Scotland; refuses to back Scotland’s preference for a sterling union
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