Asia-Pacific
People: Union leader among BoE’s new non-execs
Plus RBNZ assistant governor to leave and Fnality appoints three ex-central bankers
Reserves exposure to non-SDR sovereign debt increases
US Treasuries and gold remain the most prominent asset classes
Managers predict moderate AI impact on reserves
But many reserve managers see high future potential for AI
Zombie firms in Asian EMEs cause disinflation in AEs – study
Spillover is transmitted to advanced economies via trade channels, BIS report says
Staff strength and salary associated with size of reserves
Managers report greater satisfaction with non-staff resources than staffing levels
Counting the cost of central bank staff errors
Risk managers expose underlying causes and outline measures to curtail incidents
New Zealand tightens policy as inflation remains above target
RBNZ says currently ‘lacklustre’ growth likely to accelerate after carrying out expected hike
Bessent believes BoJ will act in support of yen
‘I have information that the market doesn’t have,’ US Treasury secretary says
Geopolitics is fastest-rising research topic for economists
Research economists are most widely judged on their output of papers
Economists devote up to half of working hours to research
Higher-paid research economists tend to spend more time on own research
Central banks predict growth more accurately than inflation
AI models may offer more precise forecasts
Most key projection models capture policy rates
But respondents rarely disclose policy rate forecasts alongside scenarios
Third of key models now employ endogenous financial sector
Multiple channels of monetary transmission rooted in majority models
Central banks complement traditional models with AI
Time series and semi-structural models remain economists’ choices for forecasting
Working group minutes: macro-pru calibration challenges
Many central banks are struggling to get enough data, particularly on borrowers
Working paper production linked to number of PhD economists
Central banks averaged output of roughly 10 working papers last year
Third of economics departments say staffing ‘barely sufficient’
Forecasting, policy analysis and research are economists’ top duties
Economists’ average annual salary rises
Incomes have some relation with GDP per capita and central bank size
Economics staff strength increases over two-year period
Departmental size as share of central banks’ workforce widens to 7.7%, on average
Kazakhstan makes surprise 25bp rate cut
Analyst says central bank is trying to signal that disinflationary measures are working
Asia-Pacific central banks say AI risks require ‘vigilance, agility’
MAS and BoT also sign anti-fraud MoU on sidelines of meeting involving 11 monetary authorities