Central Banking
IMF paper identifies trends in fiscal profligacy
Working paper analyses dataset of countries’ fiscal performance over time, finding an imperfect response to changes in the underlying economy
Fed’s Lacker issues warning on bloated balance sheet
Jeffrey Lacker says latest round of quantitative easing is unlikely to give a significant boost to the economy and will ‘test the limits of our credibility’
Bank of Zambia mounts charge on financial education
Central bank hopes to create financially educated population by 2030 and provide Zambians with tools to secure ‘positive financial outcomes’ for their families
Portugal's Costa demands greater European co-ordination
Bank of Portugal governor says individual countries’ adjustment programmes alone are not enough to boost Europe’s growth potential
Brazil increases gold holdings by 90% in three months
Central Bank of Brazil adds 31.9 tonnes of gold to its reserves between September and November; could indicate a desire to diversify away from the dollar
Recommendation due on UK RPI calculation consultation
The UK's Office for National Statistics will make its recommendation tomorrow morning over whether and how to change how it calculates the Retail Prices Index
Bank of Spain executives hit back at negligence claims
Executive commission rebuts claims made in a leaked internal report that the central bank’s supervisory department tended to ‘look the other way’ when there were signs of criminal activity
Irish governor bemoans sustained large sovereign spread
Patrick Honohan says the cost of Ireland’s funding still reflects a credit risk premium; Government’s €2.5 billion bond issuance met by ‘strong’ investor response
India extends Basel III timetable to let banks raise capital
Decision to push back Basel III implementation motivated by capital concerns, say market sources
French paper warns of forward guidance perils
Study published by Banque de France says efficient communication to an inattentive audience can only be achieved if supported by effective monetary policy
PBoC’s Zhou promises more 'opening up' in 2013
Zhou Xiaochuan suggests the PBoC will make greater efforts in 2013 towards deepening financial reforms and ‘opening up’
Bank of Korea warns of forthcoming credit tightening
Bank lending survey finds a recent trend of credit easing is likely to be reversed in the first quarter of 2013; credit risk expected to run at ‘high levels’
IMF paper urges greater macroprudential standards for CCP risk buffers
Study published by IMF seeks to eliminate regulatory arbitrage between banks and CCPs' prudential standards
National Bank of Austria reshuffles governing board
Governor Ewald Nowotny reappointed for second term; executive director Peter Zöllner departs for BIS, and two new executive directors are chosen
Bank of Canada wants national citizen to succeed Carney
Legislation dictates governor must be a Canadian citizen; advert for new governor released publicly on central bank website
Krugman adds lustre to $1 trillion coin plan
Proposal to mint a $1 trillion coin to avoid 'fiscal cliff' in US wins Krugman backing and Republican opposition
Filipino deputy gears up for legal battle
Central Bank of the Philippines deputy governor clashes with local businessman over accusations of money laundering
Bank of Portugal suspends staff holiday pay
Board of directors voluntarily waives own holiday pay and cancels that of its staff; board members also agree to take a pay cut for the fourth consecutive year
Netherlands Bank report urges restructuring of mortgage finance
First meeting of the Netherlands Bank’s Financial Stability Committee endorses action to address risks surrounding high mortgage indebtedness
Riksbank board members clash over inflation forecasts
Minutes from December monetary policy meeting show disagreement over impact of 25-basis point rate cut on inflation
Minneapolis Fed research challenges banks’ reliance on short-term debt
Policy paper calls short-term funding as a foundation for efficient payments an ‘artefact of a bygone era’, and suggests reforms to banks’ funding models
Bhutan governor gives banking sector assurances
Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan 2011–12 annual report reveals ongoing liquidity crisis; inflation increases to 13.5%
Fed’s Bullard blasts ‘fiscalisation’ of ECB
James Bullard defends central bank independence while criticising the European Central Bank for mixing monetary and fiscal policy in its outright monetary transactions
Signal-extraction analysed by Latvian paper
Study considers ability of a regularised filter to extract signals from large data-sets