Central Banking
Central Bank of Nigeria rebuts ‘false rumours’ on currency plans
Statement by Nigeria’s central bank attempts to correct ‘dangerous misrepresentations’ about currency restructuring; denies accusations new 5,000 naira banknote will be costly and cause inflation
Fed paper evaluates asset purchase programmes
A Federal Reserve working paper says the central bank’s asset purchase programmes have lowered Treasury yields; uses market expectations to help judge impact
Central Bank of Myanmar embraces radical overhaul
Central bank close to securing operational independence and staffing needed to manage monetary policy and foreign exchange; aggressive banking, payments and capital markets reform on its agenda
Moody’s changes EU credit rating outlook to negative
Credit rating agency says move reflects alterations to rating outlooks for core eurozone countries; all eyes on ECB for rate decision later this week
Sarb chief economist announces early retirement
Monde Mnyande leaves South African Reserve Bank after 17 years of service; served on MPC and Financial Stability Committee
Malaysia’s Zeti encourages cross-border collaboration
Zeti Akhtar Aziz promotes the need for cooperation in achieving financial stability; outlines positive impact of this approach in Asia
BIS paper analyses demographic influence on money supply
Bank for International Settlements research examines impact of baby boomers on inflation; predicts trouble ahead for central banks
Central Bank of Chile minutes reveal rate consensus
Minutes of the August monetary policy meeting show unanimity behind decision to leave interest rate unchanged; members discuss keeping the rate level for 'some time'
Netherlands not prepared for Iban, says central bank
Netherlands Bank assessment shows awareness of Iban is rising; but businesses are not taking necessary steps for switch
Spain’s Frob reveals first tranche of funding for Bankia
Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring agrees on initial bailout funds for BFA-Bankia; concerns raised over whether speed of recapitalisation will be sufficient to restore confidence
RBA holds rate as global growth softens
Stable inflation, close to target domestic growth and 'subdued' international economic picture lead Reserve Bank of Australia board to leave benchmark rate at 3.5%
BoJ officials took pay cuts in wake of natural disaster
Annual review shows officers at Bank of Japan took pay cuts to support rebuilding efforts following 2011 earthquake; central bank sees increase in profits
Central Bank of Nigeria stays firm over currency changes
List of frequently asked questions makes it clear overhaul plans are here to stay; central bank fails to offer direct response to criticism from government
SNB’s Jordan defends decision not to activate capital buffer
Thomas Jordan explains the choice not to activate counter-cyclical capital buffer; nevertheless says this is ‘far from an all-clear’ as the risk of further imbalances persists
Bank of Lithuania launches new cash management service
Cash Service opens for business in centralised location; new body aimed at reducing cost of ensuring good quality currency is in circulation in the country at all times
BIS chief advocates deeper policy cooperation
Jaime Caruana calls on central banks to consider international implications of domestic monetary policy; says segmenting markets does not make sense
Fed paper estimates impact of more stringent bank supervision
Discussion paper studies changes in the stringency of the US bank ratings system ‘Camels’; finds although variation is small, closer supervision leads to a significant decline in lending
IMF paper studies emerging market bond spreads
Working paper tests different explanatory variables for emerging market bond spreads over time; finds importance may change based on business cycle and external factors
Bank of Finland paper examines reasons for business cycle co-movement
Discussion paper suggests thinking of growth performance of economies as ‘coupled’ or ‘de-coupled’ is overly simplistic; identifies a number of factors contributing to interdependence
National Bank of Serbia reports on ‘dinarisation’ strategy
Quarterly report gives overview of National Bank of Serbia’s efforts to encourage use of dinar; finds that local currency as a share of total lending and deposits fell in the second quarter
BoE executive director slates complex regulation
Andrew Haldane criticises the length of legislation recently introduced in the US and Europe; appeals for a simpler approach to financial regulation
Bernanke disappoints markets by revealing little about QE3
Ben Bernanke’s Jackson Hole speech gets muted response from markets; gives no clear indication of whether third round of quantitative easing is forthcoming
UK banks reveal size of eurozone funding gaps
Banks reduce cross-border funding of peripheral eurozone assets in an attempt to mitigate redenomination risk - but funding gap still tops £10 billion for Spain
RBNZ appoints new head of financial markets
Reserve Bank of New Zealand announces commercial banker as new chief of financial markets department; takes up his position in September