Europe
Russia has limited room for manoeuvre on policy – experts
Rate cut reflects nervousness rather than confidence about inflation and growth trajectory, say analysts
Fintech licences issued yearly remain below 10 on average
Number of fintechs in operation averages just over 60
ECB to offer repo line access to almost all central banks
Euro liquidity ‘granted by default’ unless breaching AML/CFT rules or sanctions, says Lagarde
Central banks keep trialling link between wCBDC and RTGS
Most respondents motivated to issue wCBDC to enable financial innovation
QT ‘crucial’ if ECB is to tackle future crises, says Nagel
Bundesbank president says dollarisation by way of stablecoins could weaken European sovereignty
Russia eases by 50bp despite inflation risk
Central bank says pro-inflationary threats are still greater than disinflationary ones
Repeat of past mistakes fuels risk of new crisis
Jesper Berg and Hans Geeroms argue that bank lobbying has succeeded in securing a dangerous softening of rules
Majority of central banks still lack CBDC issuance powers
Legal mandates are scarce in both larger and smaller central banks
People: Change at the top in South Sudan
Plus new appointments in Austria, Romania and at the ECB
IMF and NBU rework models to reflect Russia-Ukraine war
Forecast process redesigned to take account of battlefield uncertainty and additional policy tools
Suspended Bulgarian deputy appointed as caretaker PM
Country’s president says Gurov is only candidate not tainted by association with outgoing government
Two in five CBDCs designed to be programmable
Over half of respondents’ retail CBDC projects are at research phase
Reserve managers focus on the ‘E’ in ‘ESG’
Central banks continue buying green assets while largely eschewing governance and social elements
Price change frequency upped inflation post-Covid – study
Size of individual changes had same effect on overall prices as during normal times, ECB paper finds
Banque de France governor unexpectedly steps down early
Villeroy de Galhau to take on new role at non-profit foundation
Nexus picks operators to build and run ‘network of networks’
CEO expects global scalability following launch of multi-country fast payments linkage
Czech National Bank holds rates
Sub-2% inflation does not warrant policy loosening, central bank says
Working group minutes: strategic planning structures
Central banks are adapting their strategic planning functions and adopting digital tools
ECB holds rates again, despite below-target inflation
Lagarde says bank will not be forced into precipitate easing by January’s 1.7% figure
Full ‘postmortem’ on QE yet to be written – Klaas Knot
Former DNB governor expects Fed to continue international monetary diplomacy under Warsh
BoE holds rates at 3.75% in yet another close decision
Good progress on disinflation and weak labour market open door for cut in March
EU banks need more control over their data – DNB board member
Chair of supervision says tech, finance and public sector need to work together to reduce dependencies
Slovenia’s politicians agree to appoint Dolenc as governor
Acting head given full tenure more than a year after parliament rejected president’s initial choice
Banks must keep up with high-speed traders – BoE’s Jackson
Risk has migrated to a part of the system where execution is measured in microseconds, official says