Australia
Minutes show RBA could still ease further
Board members feel the decision to drop guidance that further easing ‘may be appropriate’ does not limit the ‘scope’ for them to cut rates further
RBA’s Lowe wary of structural adjustment in global interest rates
Australian deputy governor expects rates on offer to savers to pick up when confidence grows and businesses compete for funds again, but sees potential for structural shift as well
RBA paper unpacks central bank’s DSGE model
Authors shed light on adapted DSGE model used in Australia, emphasising its deliberate simplicity so additional features can be bolted on as needed
RBA paper builds new model of banks’ credit losses
Model draws on new dataset and focuses on interactions between portfolio-level and macro variables in attempt to explain historical bank credit losses in Australia
Opposition from big banks to RBA interchange fee curb
Large commercial banks and payments providers warn of damaging impact of regulating interchange fees, but smaller challenger payment systems are broadly in favour
Lift-off for ASX Aussie dollar swap clearing business
Volumes jump in the first three months of the year following revamp of Sydney bourse's clearing incentive scheme
RBA paper finds high social cost to counterfeiting
Researchers try to put a figure on how much counterfeit banknotes cost the economy; Australian economy suffers from lower counterfeiting than elsewhere
Australian dollar jumps despite RBA rate cut
Australian central bank cuts benchmark interest rate to 2%; governor Stevens says currency depreciation 'necessary' amid falling terms of trade
Stevens cautious on bail-in efficacy
Reserve Bank of Australia governor says bail-in is subject to a ‘host’ of complexities that could mean it goes less smoothly in practice than regulators would like to believe
RBA paper finds only weak support for sticky information Phillips curve
Paper provides ‘first estimates’ of a sticky information Phillips curve for Australia, finding the curve fits poorly with the inflation-targeting era but better in earlier years
PBoC continues leadership reshuffle
Two assistant governors appointed at the People’s Bank of China; swap lines agreed with Australian and South African counterparts
RBA alert to ongoing housing risks
Financial stability review shows the Reserve Bank of Australia is still concerned about investor demand in the market; says it is ‘too early’ to judge impact of APRA measures
RBA’s Debelle tackles term premia puzzle
Guy Debelle says the most plausible explanation for the prevailing low level of term premia in global fixed income markets is the shortage of risk-free assets
RBA research sets out stress test for households
Model emphasises dangers of relying on aggregate measures of household indebtedness when assessing financial stability and setting monetary policy
RBA mulls creation of repo CCP
Australia currently lacks a CCP for clearing repos, which could be exacerbating systemic risk and impairing market functioning, but previous efforts met with little enthusiasm
Swift in talks with Fed and ECB on real-time payments
Swift’s Juliette Kennel and Carlo Palmers talk to Central Banking about the company's leap into real-time payments in Australia, and discuss launching similar systems in other countries
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
Stevens gloomy on growth as RBA cuts
RBA governor warns Australian economy is showing greater signs of weakness than previously thought, in a statement announcing a cut in the interest rate to record low
Resource costs of Australian payments system down as percentage of GDP
Consumers face similar cost for credit and debit card payments despite higher cost of credit cards to the economy, RBA paper finds
Swift wins Australian real-time payments contract
Contract represents new direction for the financial messaging service, with the final platform expected to go live in 2017
RBA strikes clearing deal with PBoC
Australian authorities agree clearing arrangements and RQFII quota with Chinese counterparts; announced in wake of G-20 summit and follows similar Canadian deals
G-20 Brisbane Summit: What to look for
Leaders of the G-20 countries meet this weekend to try to thrash out a deal on financial stability, growth and employment; Central Banking looks at some of the main issues on the table
RBA markets head details Australian approach to securitisation
Chris Aylmer outlines RBA’s ‘very high standard’ of ABS risk management in its liquidity operations, saying the approach will evolve over time
RBA paper aims to reduce noise in GDP calculation
Researchers combine three measures of Australian GDP to produce a measure they say is less volatile and easier to calculate