Central Banking
Sweden's Ingves on the crisis and beyond
"Despite the gloomy outlook for next year, there is still some light at the end of the tunnel," said the governor of Sweden's central bank in a new year's eve post.
Balassa-Samuelson revisited
A new paper from the Bank for International Settlements finds that Balassa-Samuelson effects are clearly present in 11 euro accession countries and that these explain around 24% of inflation differentials vis-a-vis the euro area.
MPC minutes: Egypt
The Central Bank of Egypt's Monetary Policy Committee decided to keep rates unchanged at 11.5% owing to high inflation, the minutes of the meeting on 25 December explained.
India's central bank cuts again
The Reserve Bank of India cut rates by a percentage point for the second time in less than a month and eased deposit requirements for commercial banks in a bid to limit the impact of the financial crisis.
Euro adds to Slovakia's New Year celebrations
Slovakia became the 16th country to join the Eurosystem on New Year's Day, an achievement few predicted would happen so soon after it joined the European Union less than five years ago.
Shirakawa warns on yen strength
The governor of the Bank of Japan, Masaaki Shirakawa, highlighted the damage the yen's strength was having on the economy and served notice that the central bank stood ready to act.
Polish policymaker flags half-point cut
Marian Noga, often portrayed as a hawk on the National Bank of Poland's ten-member rate-setting panel, said rates could be lowered by half a percentage point at the next meeting.
Korean rate setting to focus on recovery
Monetary policy will be geared towards restoring economic growth the Korean central bank said in a statement on monetary policy for 2009.
Heller on how crisis will impact payments and settlements
Nick Carver spoke with the new head of the secretariat of the Committee of Payment and Settlement Systems about the impact of the credit crisis on market infrastructure and how central banks will respond
Vienna poised to take control of Bank Medici
The Austrian government is preparing to take control of Bank Medici, a Vienna-based private bank, which has revealed losses on funds that invested with Bernard Madoff, the disgraced financier.
Zeti back further stimulus
Malaysia is unlikely to slip into recession despite slowing exports, but the economy may require another round of stimulus measures, the country's central bank chief said on Wednesday.
Obama nominee underlines change at the Fed
The nomination of Daniel Tarullo, law professor at Georgetown University and regulation expert, to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve provides early evidence of the way the central bank is being reshaped in the aftermath of the financial…
Fed announces January start to MBS programme
The Federal Reserve on Tuesday announced that it will start the operations of its programme to purchase mortgage-backed securities (MBS) in early January.
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.