Central Banking
Norges Bank sees room for improvement when forecasting wages
Evaluation of forecast performance shows both the central bank and other forecasters struggled to produce accurate estimates of wage growth and unemployment
Crapo: US Treasury reforms will be ‘complicated’
Democrats unlikely to back changes that benefit big banks, Senate banking committee chair says
Former central bank governors debate unconventional monetary policy
Trichet, Shirakawa and Weber agree unconventional tools may have outstayed their welcome; costs of tools used during the crisis will not be known for some time, Weber says
OECD urges RBNZ to adopt debt-to-income restrictions
The OECD said adding a debt-to-income limit to the RBNZ’s macro-prudential instruments could increase the resilience of bank balance sheets
Overvalued Swiss currency is keeping rates low – SNB’s Jordan
The Swiss franc remains “significantly overvalued”, despite low interest rates and forex interventions; expansionary monetary policy makes the franc “less attractive” for investors
Yellen willing to reassess 2% target
Fed chair says question of the right target level is one of the most important facing central banks today; wind-down of QE likely to be dull, she adds
ECB buys €500 million worth of renminbi for forex reserves
Belgian central bank also announces purchase of Chinese currency, plus South Korean won
FOMC votes for hike but stays cautious on outlook
Fed committee votes for second rate hike of 2017, but enthusiasm for further tightening appears to be fading
Irish central bank renews Brexit warnings
Rapid house price rise fuelled by scarcity, Central Bank of Ireland says
Wilkins offers optimistic assessment of Canadian economy
Carolyn Wilkins says Bank of Canada will assess whether current “considerable” monetary stimulus is still required; growth across sectors is an “encouraging” sign for the economy
New US dollar bills will not be polymer – Fed official
US plans to launch a new family of banknotes that will have more intaglio printing; Fed’s Lambert sees a bright future for cash
Governance frameworks need to fill in for legislative gaps, says Trinidad’s Hilaire
Governor of Caribbean central bank says financial entities have to be willing to “police themselves” by encouraging a culture founded upon strong corporate governance
Qatari peg under pressure despite reassurances
Riyal drops below official level of the peg amid concerns over Qatar’s diplomatic isolation; central bank governor highlights deep pool of reserves
National Bank of Denmark warns banks on stress test results
Some systemic banks came close to breaching threshold requirements in latest round of stress tests, central bank says
Cash industry should tweak models in new environment, says BoE’s Cleland
Chief cashier says players should be prepared to “flex” models to adapt to environment where cash reliance is less significant; technology is not a threat, it’s an opportunity, says Cleland
Co-operation matters for macro-prudential impact – BIS paper
Gains from co-operation can be large but asymmetric benefits could create political economy problems, authors say
Bank of Lithuania carries out cyber security exercise
Banks passed tests but supervisors will continue to be on alert, bank says
ECB gives mixed reception to new macro-pru measures
Austrian proposals welcomed, but ECB raises concerns over Belgian draft law
Kazakh central bank to roll out blockchain-based savings
Central bank plans to allow members of the public to trade its short-term notes on a blockchain-based system by the end of the year
US Treasury proposals seek to water down Basel III
Proposals include axing parts of liquidity rules, reducing the use of stress testing and the possibility of allowing banks to opt out of the Volcker rule
People: Haldane keeps his MPC seat; new FSB chairs appointed
BoE’s chief economist Haldane keeps his MPC seat for another term; new FSB chairs picked as Norman Chan and European deputies step down; and more
Income is an important factor for housing demand in Turkey – paper
Profitability of housing investment in Turkey fell in 2003–14; Ceritoğlu suggests drop in home ownership is down to relative price changes
ECB paper calls for EU-wide bond-issuing agency
Authors propose the ECB and a bond issuer should work together to stimulate eurozone
ECB provides detail on stress-testing methods
Top-down approach helped supervisors challenge banks’ results, ECB says