Central Banking
Oil prices feed through to core inflation – Fed paper
Research finds changes in the oil price have a small but statistically significant impact on core inflation
Philippines sees strong ‘hot money’ inflow despite currency weakness
Net inflow of foreign portfolio investments into Philippines hits six-month high, in contrast to weakness in peso
Indonesia considers new riskier tranche for reserves – Budianto
Head of reserves says political risks are more of a worry than portfolio flows; explains how Bank Indonesia’s strategy reinforces market development in 30-minute interview
Maldives’ governor resigns as country remains in crisis
Governor says she is stepping down to join her husband in New York; country’s parliament is shut down amid political crisis
National Bank of Denmark sees "major challenges" for Greenland’s economy
Greenland is experiencing an economic boom, but needs to diversify its economy; central bank warns political independence may be a mistake
Fed’s liquidity policies more restrictive than other central banks
NY Fed article compares the Fed’s collateral and liquidity frameworks to other major central banks, finding the US central bank is much more limited in its operations
Argentine governor acknowledges rate cuts were too abrupt
Sturzenegger acknowledges central bank loosened monetary policy too abruptly in late 2016, but he says the bank still has tools to stimulate growth expanding access to credit
People: New chairman in Macau; Bosnia appoints vice-governor
Chan Sau San to lead Macau’s monetary authority; Bosnia appoints vice-governor; Nathan Sussman leaves the Bank of Israel after six years as head of research
FOMC divided on how to proceed with policy
Strong jobs growth, but below-target inflation leaves some members emphasising room to be patient, while others warn of a potential overshoot
China’s current credit trajectory is ‘dangerous’, IMF warns
Fund revises up China’s GDP growth forecast, but warns debt-fuelled growth is unsustainable
Regulators wary of machine learning in bank models
Banks acknowledge they “cannot hide behind a complex tool” to assess interconnectedness
Ghanaian central bank closes two commercial banks
IMF staff called for action in February over problems at some commercial banks
Bank of Colombia forecasts stronger growth as oil shock fades
The central bank expects higher GDP growth in 2018, as inflation remains within target and the peso’s exchange rate with the dollar stays stable
Wage growth may be stronger than headline figures suggest
San Francisco Fed researchers point to evidence that headline figures may overstate wage weakness; UK figures provide a positive surprise
Fed’s Fischer criticises efforts to unwind banking regulation in the US
The economist describes attempts to reduce capital standards as “extremely dangerous and extremely short-sighted”
Uzbekistan launches new banknote as inflation erodes value
New 50,000 som note is five times the value of the next largest banknote; security features include raised text, colour-changing foils and windows
Lithuanian paper examines interplay between European housing and credit
Panel-like econometrics may give misleading results, authors warn
Bank of Colombia paper charts fiscal multipliers in developing countries
Stronger fiscal-monetary co-ordination in developing economies during periods of expansion would extract more value from stimulus; fiscal multipliers higher in fixed exchange rate regimes
German court refers ECB bond purchases to ECJ
“Doubtful” whether PSPP is authorised by German and European law, says court
Swedish inflation above target, but tightening unlikely
The Scandinavian economy recorded a 4% year-on-year expansion in the second quarter of 2017, but a strong krona and the ECB’s loose policy stance make an immediate rate rise difficult
Fed paper studies how to tackle the lower bound
Simple policy rules lead to inflation falling “systematically” short of 2% target; pursuing higher inflation may help but comes at a cost
Failed bomber planned to target Fed
FBI arrests man in Oklahoma after undercover operation; Jerry Drake Varnell allegedly planned to target Fed in Washington
Court dismisses ‘irrational’ Sarb mandate challenge
Judge finds South African public protector’s attempt to change the Sarb’s mandate was illegal, irrational and unfair
Irish central bank to set up dataset of registered firms
Dataset will help identify “structures of complex operations”, bank says