News
Fed officials see ‘audit’ bill as threat to independence
Charles Plosser is the latest FOMC member to criticise bill that could see monetary policy decisions reviewed; Richard Fisher and Jerome Powell also raise concerns
People: New deputies in Angola as defence expert gets top Israel IT job
Two new deputy governors for National Bank of Angola; University of Chicago professor joins Slovak central bank board; defence expert takes on top IT job at Bank of Israel
Central Asian currencies under threat as Azerbaijan abandons peg
The Central Bank of Azerbaijan’s decision to drop its dollar peg and move to target a basket could have knock-on effects throughout the region, where currencies are already under pressure
Riksbank unveils new series of notes and coins
Majority of Sweden’s banknotes and coins to be updated by the end of 2016; new 20 krona note to be introduced and two krona coin to re-enter circulation
Poll: Should inflation targets be scrapped?
As advanced economies battle low inflation and interest rates remain constrained by the ZLB, should central banks rethink monetary policy orthodoxy?
Latest round of Greek bailout talks collapses
Discussions over extending Greece’s bailout collapsed late last night after the country's finance chief Yanis Varoufakis rejected a plan by the Eurogroup to continue with the current programme
Bahrain governor launches campaign for women bankers
Rasheed Al Maraj gives his backing to an initiative designed to promote gender equality in Bahrain’s financial sector; country has a patchy record when it comes to women’s rights
Australia opts for ‘tactile’ notes to assist the visually impaired
Australia follows Canada in offering tactile features on polymer banknotes despite apparent rejection of the idea by the Bank of England
MAS takes first steps towards crowdfunding regulations
Proposed regulations aim to strike a balance between encouraging a valuable source of finance for small businesses and managing the high risks associated with securities-based crowdfunding
IMF too sluggish to be global lender of last resort, say Allen and Moessner
The IMF’s response to the financial crisis was too weak and too late, leaving the Federal Reserve to pick up the slack, William Allen and Richhild Moessner argue in the Central Banking Journal
Ukraine unveils nine-member MPC
Central bank reveals composition and meeting schedule of new monetary policy committee, a body created to help ‘streamline’ the decision-making process
Growth of finance sucks skill from real economy, BIS paper warns
Financial growth crowds out real growth by drawing skilled labour away from other industries, with R&D hit particularly hard, a working paper by Stephen Cecchetti and Enisse Kharroubi finds
House committee calls on Fed to change leverage ratio
Segregated initial margin should be allowed to reduce exposure in cleared trades, says House Agriculture Committee in letter to Fed chair, Janet Yellen
Kalyalya replaces Gondwe as Bank of Zambia governor
Former deputy governor Denny Kalyalya replaces Michael Gondwe at the helm of the central bank, after new president decides he wants a change at the top
Cyprus central bank reviewing operational model
Central bank is commissioning a detailed study into its organisational structure to ensure it is ‘fit-for-purpose’, in light of concerns it has not ‘adequately evolved’ with the times
BoE could ease with deflation looming
Record low inflation may turn negative in the spring, inflation report shows; Mark Carney says rate cuts and QE remain options but BoE still expects next move to be a rate hike
RBA’s Debelle exerts pressure over FX benchmarks
Guy Debelle warns the likelihood of a ‘regulatory response’ on forex benchmarks will ‘substantially increase’ if FSB-approved recommendations are not met
Riksbank goes negative and launches QE
Swedish central bank announces unprecedented measures to ‘safeguard' inflation expectations; rates ‘far from lower bound' says Ingves
Justin Lin: Multiple reserve currency system ‘less stable' than one based on dollar
Former World Bank chief economist tells Central Banking Journal competing reserve currencies would not address overriding challenge of global monetary system
Dallas Fed’s Fisher calls for FOMC reform
Richard Fisher unveils a range of proposals aimed at reducing the power of the New York Fed and Board of Governors in monetary policy decisions
Central banks in CEE take different views on inflation drop
Institutions in Romania and Hungary forecast a quick return to target, while those in Poland and the Czech Republic sound a more cautious note about the inflation outlook
Japan at a turning point but liquidity risks loom, say panellists
Panel at Japan Securities Summit including BoJ’s Takehiro Sato believes Japan’s ‘certain, coordinated and creative’ policy mix will deliver the first turnaround in 20 years
Venezuela fleshes out details of new floating exchange rate
Venezuela’s central bank will introduce a new free-float exchange rate, allowing people and companies to freely buy and sell dollars; economists say it will lead to depreciation
People: Sejko confirmed as Albania governor; Vietnam names deputy
Gent Sejko confirmed in post after being nominated in December; Nguyen Kim Anh becomes sixth deputy governor at State Bank of Vietnam; and more