Central Banking
Terms-of-trade shocks affect house price fluctuations – paper
Bank of Canada research shows terms of trade shocks explain large percentage of variance in house price growth; most of the variation associated with changes in real import prices, authors say
Belarus cuts rates amid systemic risk fears
Central bank says measures will be taken to guard against foreign loan risk; recent IMF assessment says economy has high level of risk
Completing reform agenda may not be enough – Caruana
BIS chief urges continuous effort to finish reforms, but says they need to be backed by policies that raise earning and debt-repayment capacities
Ex-Barclays trader pleads guilty in price-fixing conspiracy
Jason Katz, a former EMFX trader at Barclays and BNP Paribas, pleads guilty in New York
Colombian macro-pru measures have been effective, paper shows
Paper analyses the impact of macro-prudential measures on credit supply of banks; both reserve requirement and dynamic provisioning scheme have negative effect on credit growth
Echavarría takes over at Central Bank of Colombia
Former board member central bank takes office as economy is expected to recover from commodity slowdown; biggest challenge will be tackling high inflation
Czech central bank carries out internal reorganisation
Research division to be split between two departments; human resources joins general secretariat, while EU and international organisations division is moved to regulation department
Bank of Portugal selects preferred buyer for ‘good bank’
Novo Banco sale process has met with difficulties; US firm Lone Star is named the best-placed bidder
J Dewey Daane, 1918–2016
Former Fed governor and adviser to the International Monetary Fund played key role in founding of the Central Bank of Paraguay
Fed could raise rates faster than anticipated, minutes show
Prospect of undershooting the longer-run employment target has increased, the FOMC reports, but expansionary fiscal policies should improve growth prospects
New data sheds light on policy spillover channels – BIS paper
Expanded data published by the BIS show how US dollar, euro and yen affect cross-border lending flows
Barbados has failed to find growth balance, says governor
Further restrictions on spending needed to protect country’s reserves, says Worrell
Haldane hopeful for ‘rebirth’ of economics
BoE chief economist believes crisis for the profession could lead to a break with past thinking; offers solutions to productivity problems
Bank of Israel cuts 2017 budget as building and banknote projects wind down
Central bank continues process of budgetary restraint as it unveils work plan for 2017; spending on renovation and new technology and emergency centre falls
Bank of Ghana improves communications strategy
A new 24-hour contact centre will allow queries from members of the public to be answered at all hours; the central bank encourages feedback on its communications
Sri Lankan government to restructure central bank
Central bank is to be restructured with amendments to the Banking Act, but disagreements remain between the finance minister and governor; inflation-targeting framework appears to be on track
Spanish deputy governor hints at need for European banking mergers
Restoy says supervisors should not promote specific integrations
Ukraine acts to cover ‘major shortfall’ in nationalised bank
NBU also tightens bond auction anonymity and announces restriction on use of cash to settle payments
Hans Tietmeyer and his ‘mission’ for euro stability
Otmar Issing on how the former Bundesbank president helped to drive Germany’s social market economy and was instrumental in the stable introduction of the euro
UK competition authority raises concern on VocaLink sale
Sale of payments infrastructure provider to MasterCard could harm competition on ATMs, but unlikely to be a problem for wider payment systems, CMA finds
People: vice-governor appointed at PBoC; Bank of Canada creates new comms role
China’s State Council appoints Harvard graduate to replace Guo Qingping; Jill Vardy becomes adviser to Stephen Poloz; and more
US card fraud higher than in countries with chip technology – Fed study
Study finds card transactions are on the rise but cheques still important; limited adoption of chip technology seems to be contributing to fraud
Hans Tietmeyer, 1931-2016
Former Bundesbank president played key roles in German reunification, European single currency and reform of international financial regulation
Senior ECB regulator calls for progress on deposit insurance
Unified deposit insurance plays “key role” in achieving “stable cross-border banking across the euro area”, Julie Dickson says