Central Banking
Albania needs core inflation reporting
Core inflation reporting and analysis should be included in the Bank of Albania's periodical reports on monetary policy, a paper from the central bank finds.
Globalisation accelerated IMF's reaction
The pace of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) crisis responses has increased with the rise of financial globalisation, a new research from the Central Bank of Chile shows.
Rules alone will not stop crises: Rajan, White
Raghuram Rajan and William White, two highly-regarded economists, have said that regulation - whether it was tighter, less pro-cyclical or more systemic - would not prevent future crises unless fundamental structural and behavioural changes were made to…
Estonia to meet Maastricht criteria in 2009
Andres Lipstok, the governor of the Bank of Estonia, has said that the country will meet all the Maastricht criteria for euro entry later this year, reports say.
Reforming regulation: how urgent, how effective?
Participants in a conference hosted by the London School of Economics and Deutsche Bank in London on Thursday were split over whether there was substance to regulatory buzzwords such as countercyclical supervision and utility-based banking.
Turkish rates hit record low
The Central Bank of Turkey's decision to lower its benchmark rate by a full percentage point on Thursday took borrowing costs in the country at an all-time low.
Indian inflation near zero
Indian inflation has reached a 20-year low of just 0.44%.
A labour model for inflation dynamics
A model with sticky nominal wages and right-to-manage bargaining best captures the response of inflation to nominal labour shocks, a new paper from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve posits.
Global economy to shrink by 0.5-1%: IMF
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has again lowered its growth estimates, saying that it now sees a contraction of 0.5% to 1% in global activity.
Bank to begin buying corporate bonds next week
The Bank of England said on Thursday that it would begin buying corporate bonds outright next week.
Iceland's new MPC cuts by 100bp in first decision
The Central Bank of Iceland's Monetary Policy Committee, set up earlier this month, has cut the key policy rate by a full percentage point to 17%.
Fed feedback: bombshell welcomed but some concern
Reaction to the Federal Open Market Committee's decision to buy Treasuries has been broadly positive but some are concerned by the apparent rashness of a decision about which Fed officials had given scant indication.
RBA's Edey: regulation determined risk taking
Financial regulation unintentionally shaped the excessive risk-taking that occurred in the run up to the credit crisis, said Malcolm Edey, the assistant governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Monetary policy can affect fiscal spillover
Interventions by central banks can impact the magnitude and nature of a spillover from regional fiscal policy, a new paper from Banque de France posits.
Japanese outlook grim
Economic conditions have deteriorated significantly and are likely to continue doing so for the time being, notes the Bank of Japan in its latest Monthly Report on economic and financial developments.
Morgan Stanley economist new MPC member
Alistair Darling, the chancellor of the exchequer, announced on Thursday that David Miles will replace David Blanchflower as an external member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on 1 June.
Buba's Weber: no surprise states keen on euro
It is no wonder that many of those in small boats are seeking to dock in the large ship European economic and monetary union (EMU), said Axel Weber, the president of the Bundesbank.
BoE unanimous on March decision
The minutes from the March meeting of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee show members voted unanimously to cut bank rate by 50 basis points to a fresh all-time low of 0.5% and to buy £75 billion-worth ($104.8 billion) of assets using central…
Phillips curve remains an enigma
The understanding of what underlies the correlation between unemployment and the inflation rate is constantly changing, a new paper from the Richmond Federal Reserve.
Sri Lanka keeps on cutting
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka slashed its policy rate by 175 basis points to 14.75% on Wednesday in an effort to encourage lending and revive economic activity.
Bring back Glass-Steagall?
Suddenly, everybody is talking again about separating merchant banking from commercial banking. Ideas that a few months ago might have been dismissed as crackpot - bringing back a version of the Glass-Steagall legislation - now look as if they were ahead…
Fed to buy Treasuries
The Federal Open Market Committee said on Thursday that it will buy up to $300 billion in Treasuries and an additional $750 billion of agency mortgage-backed securities. It will also invest an additional $100 billion in agency debt.
King moots Glass-Steagall revival
Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, has called for a debate on whether the global financial crisis has shown that a Glass-Steagall type provision is needed to prevent retail deposits from being used to fund investment-banking activities.
SA shifts to monthly schedule for rate moves
The South African Reserve Bank's rate-setters are will vote once a month for the remainder of the year after the central bank announced it was doubling the frequency of its meetings for 2009.