Europe
Central banks halt longer-term dollar liquidity auctions
Major central banks will no longer offer dollar liquidity at the 84-day maturity
DNB survey finds 49% of respondents ready to use digital euro
Over half of sample had not heard of central bank-issued digital currency, survey finds
Eurozone’s public debt rose sharply in 2020 – official figures
Public debt in the bloc jumped to 98% of GDP in wake of Covid-19, Eurostat says
ECB makes no change as Lagarde warns of uncertainty
Lagarde says price pressures remain weak and cautions over possible Covid-19 variants
Governors Nabiullina, Tabaković and Bezhoska on systemic risk and women in power
Russia, Serbia and North Macedonia governors discuss bank reforms, corruption and the Covid-19 crisis
ECB watchers say divisions on council could hamper decision-making
Analysts say central bank’s strategy of lower purchases could be tested later in 2021
Zhang Tao on the IMF’s fintech agenda, CBDCs and big tech oversight
IMF deputy managing director speaks about the fund’s perspectives on CBDC operating frameworks, regulating big tech and macrofinancial oversight in a digital world
Is the ECB implementing yield curve control?
The eurozone has adopted a hybrid system – lying somewhere between the Fed’s QE and the BoJ’s yield curve control – that targets wider financing conditions
Covid-19 support may have created “zombie firms” – BIS economists
Policy-makers should impose tighter lending standards and reform bankruptcy law, analysts argue
ECB’s digital euro consultation says public worried over privacy
Nearly half of responses to ECB come from Germany
Emerging-market central banks lead on women’s empowerment
EME central banks have more women at staff level and in senior positions, but there are deep disparities worldwide, with childcare availability appearing to be a major cause
MMFs should increase public debt investment – ECB paper
Regulatory framework for money market funds has “fragilities”, researchers argue
Central banks take less than 50 minutes to fix critical outages
Time tolerances for critical system downtime range from one to 32 hours
Payment innovation is top fintech research priority for central banks
CBDC ranked second as central banks explore wider implications of fintech for payments
High income economy central banks’ technology costs vary widely
Some central banks in advanced economies have kept costs as low as those in poorer nations
IMF adjusts growth forecasts upward
Fund warns of uneven and unequal recovery, but is more optimistic than it was in October
‘Giant of the field’ Robert Mundell dies
The Nobel laureate influenced a generation of economists via the Mundell-Fleming model
Large economy central banks more likely to employ CTO
Slight majority of central banks employ CTO, but differences are clearer when sorted by GDP
People: Erdoğan fires deputy governor
IMF hires new finance director; new deputy governors at Nepal central bank; and more
A latent rise in r* could upend monetary policy
A rising natural rate could create serious challenges for policy-makers, write Jorma Schäublin and Philip Turner
ECB concerned by Hungary consumer credit plan
Draft law would give Central Bank of Hungary powers to directly issue loans for energy efficiency
A rebuttal of Philip Turner’s criticism of the BIS ‘house view’
Robert Pringle critiques the key findings raised in Philip Turner’s occasional paper, ‘The new monetary policy revolution: advice and dissent’
Riksbank to open two contingency cash offices
Offices will be opened this year and next to guard against disruptions to cash supply
Central Banking Awards 2021: winners in full
Winners in 2021 include the Federal Reserve, Alejandro Díaz de León and Charles Goodhart