Central Banking
Senior figures disagree over future of central bank mandates
Independence for central banks has been a success and is vital for carrying out mandate; Otmar Issing says ECB should not act as a substitute for politics
Debelle calls for more thought on financial stability independence
RBA deputy says financial stability needs its own intellectual framework; panellists warn independence likely to face tougher challenges ahead
BIS report sheds light on innovative big data use
Central banks across the globe are turning to big data to solve statistical issues, improve banking supervision, and analyse communications
‘Substantial’ accommodation still needed in euro area – Liikanen
Bank of Finland's governor says improved growth and investment prospects have failed to affect inflation; underused capacity expected to be taken up “gradually”
Fitch warns Philippines on prudential standards
Real estate sector appears stable but risks could “crystallise” if left unchecked; closer central bank scrutiny may prove inadequate
Poor monitoring led to rise in NPLs, says Rwanda’s central bank
NPLs rose to 8.2% in June, according to central bank stats; banks urged to strengthen monitoring and credit underwriting processes
Banks ‘still groping toward’ macro-pru transparency – Eichengreen
Central bank governance expert says central bank transparency is getting better around the world, although New Zealand, Argentina and some Central American institutions could make improvements
Malaysian opposition: bank must act against 1MDB officials
Bank Negara Malaysia says it will continue to work with international agencies over alleged fraud
Bank Indonesia under pressure from falling inflation
Bank Indonesia cuts rate for the second consecutive month; policymakers in Indonesia have been struggling to hit ambitious growth targets
Yellen stresses commitment to ‘gradual’ rate hikes
Fed chair examines possible factors behind disappointing inflation results, but concludes gradual rate hikes are still warranted
Atlanta’s Bostic ‘sceptical’ about low inflation factors
President of Atlanta Fed is not sure technology and competitive pressures are to blame for prolonged below-target inflation
Jamaica’s central bank implements next step in forex overhaul
Conducting auctions at new rate will improve transparency and efficiency of forex market, central bank says, hoping it will stem speculation and volatility
Fed paper calls for rethink of conditions for setting capital controls
Policymakers should also consider how external shocks affect the borrowing capacity of the country, researchers say
Eichengreen supports calls for FOMC to hold more press conferences
Governance expert says Fed is one of the most transparent central banks in the world but improved consistency of format around FOMC meetings “makes sense”
Fed’s Williams floats co-ordinated shift from 2% targets
San Francisco Fed president is concerned that extraordinary, ‘beggar-thy-neighbour’ monetary policies will be more frequent in a lower-growth world
Italian finance sector must change, deputy governor says
Banks too exposed to cyclical conditions and firms too dependent on loans, Rossi says
Chicago Fed’s Evans sees little risk of inflation surge
Study by the Chicago Fed finds little evidence there could be a threshold in unemployment beyond which inflation may surge
Capital rules may be too risk-sensitive, Basel fears
Complexity is slowing the roll-out of standards, says Basel Committee deputy
Portuguese governor clashes with government
Treasury intends to transfer banking resolution competencies out of the central bank
Bank of Ghana pauses policy easing on inflation worries
Central bank holds interest rates at 21% to see if external pressures will prove persistent; improvement in export prices will provide country with buffer against shocks
Good data management key to extracting value from big data – panellists
Big data proves most useful when backed by a well-designed production chain – but it comes at a cost, central bank data experts say
BoE issues consumer credit warning to banks
Preliminary stress-test results show UK banking system could incur £30bn loss over three years; UK central bank says financial system is “underestimating losses”
Monetary Authority of Singapore courts Asia bond issuers
MAS aims to strengthen Singapore’s position as Asia’s fixed-income hub for bond issuers
Non-bank stress tests must be improved – Constâncio
ECB vice-president says stress tests for non-banks are still in a “fledgling state”