Central Banking
A note from El Salvador
The dollarisation of El Salvador's economy has brought relative calm to the Central American economy. But it will not be able to completely avoid the collateral damage from a slump in the United States, says Steve H. Hanke, a professor of applied…
Fed paper on subprime mortgages
This Federal Reserve working paper models the historical default and prepayment behaviour for subprime mortgages using data on securitised mortgages originated from 2000 to 2007.
RBNZ bulletin on liquidity issues
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand's December Bulletin is built around the theme of liquidity and New Zealand's financial markets.
Chilean paper on inflation persistence
This paper measures persistence of inflation in Chile and finds that it has increased sharply in recent years.
Should financial economists still get Nobels?
Pablo Triana, a derivatives consultant and author, has written to the Swedish central bank, asking them to stop awarding Nobel prizes in economics to "flawed, unworldly, and dangerous theoretical finance constructs."
GM finance arm gets TARP funding
The finance arm of General Motors, the embattled US automaker, has received financial support under the US Treasury's Troubled Assets Relief Programme (TARP) after gaining approval from the Federal Reserve to become a bank holding company.
Sri Lankan CB takes over private bank
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has taken over Seylan Bank, the second largest commercial bank in the country.
Sterling edges towards euro parity
The dramatic decline in the value of the British currency showed few signs of abating as it edged towards parity with the euro on Wednesday.
ECB sees uncertainty and weak economy in 2009
Two members of the European Central Bank's (ECB) governing council on Tuesday expressed concerns over the outlook for the European economy in 2009.
Korean state-owned entities to the rescue
The Financial Services Commission (FSC) in Korea has unveiled a financial rescue plan for 2009 aimed at helping local banks improve their balance sheets and reduce their exposure to bad debt.
Rogoff and Reinhart on the aftermath of crises
A new paper by Kenneth Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart provides an historical analysis of the aftermath of systemic banking crises.
Fund calls for fiscal expansion
This staff position note by the International Monetary Fund outlines the characteristics of the fiscal stimulus the Fund is calling for to revive the global economy.
ECB warns of "downbeat attitude" on SEPA
The European Central Bank has published its sixth progress report on the implementation of the Single Euro Payments Area.
Albanian banks resilient - Fullani
The Albanian banking system has shown "admirable resilience" in the face of the global financial turmoil, said Ardian Fullani, the governor of the Bank of Albania.
Iraq to cut rates
The Central Bank of Iraq has announced that it will reduce its key policy rate by 1 percentage point to 14%, starting next year.
UAE creates swap lines for local banks
The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is to provide currency-swap facilities for the UAE dirham and the US dollar to local banks in a bid to inject more liquidity into the country's banking system.
BoJ considers "extraordinary steps" - Kamezaki
The Bank of Japan is considering "extraordinary steps" to counter financial-market turmoil and a deepening recession, Hidetoshi Kamezaki, a member of the central bank's policy board said last week.
China to promote freer yuan trades
Beijing will allow some trade with neighbouring countries to be settled in yuan, the Chinese currency, rather than in the dollar or the euro.
Raza nominated to replace Akhtar
Saleem Raza, a former executive at Citigroup, has been nominated as the new governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, after the unexpected resignation of Shamshad Akhtar.
Japanese economy to stay weak - report
The Bank of Japan's latest monthly report on financial and economic conditions paints a gloomy picture of the outlook for the world second largest economy.
Trichet on the euro
In this interview, Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank, discusses various developments surrounding the euro.
Revisiting the Balassa-Samuelson effect
This paper by the Bank for International Settlements estimates the Balassa-Samuelson effects for 11 countries in Central and Eastern Europe.
Explaining interest-rate spreads
This paper uses a time series econometric framework to determine the structural determinants of the spread between the European Overnight Rate and the European Central Bank's Policy Rate from mid-2004 to mid-2006.
Italy names first female board member
Anna Maria Tarantola, the managing director of the Bank of Italy's banking and supervision unit, will replace Antonio Finocchiaro in the new year as deputy director-general at the central bank. In doing so, she will become the first woman to sit on the…