Central Banking
World Bank report sees risks if Mozambique continues to raise rates
Report praises efforts of central bank so far but says further tightening could harm certain sectors of the economy; exchange rate volatility having adverse effects on debt
IMF staff call for new macro-prudential tools in Denmark
Danish authorities told to consider placing limits on debt to income ratios; macro-prudential measures suggested by IMF staff to complement existing regulation
Riksbank minutes highlight effort to protect rising inflation
Executive board members saw potential for krona appreciation as a risk to inflation outlook; broad support for additional asset purchases, but some questions over size
Fed presidents navigate ‘mixed signals’
Dennis Lockhart is putting more weight on positive employment picture than disappointing growth stats; both he and Robert Kaplan see potential for labour force to expand
Swiss franc still ‘significantly overvalued' – Jordan
Chairman of Swiss National Bank governing board says dual policy of negative rates and willingness to intervene in forex market are helping support the economy
Draghi points to savings glut in some eurozone countries
Germany and others are contributing to a global savings glut, Draghi argues; renews call for structural reform and rejects appeals to curtail monetary expansion
Visco wary of changing regulation on sovereign exposures
Italian governor acknowledges sovereign exposures are not risk-free, but questions logic to changing prudential rules
Bank of Canada identifies first ‘prominent' payment system
The Automated Clearing Settlement System is considered "central" to Canadian payments and must now meet risk management standards based on global PFMI
Cunliffe warns of tough transition to new resolution regime
Going back to world of small, less complex banks is not how to solve ‘too big to fail’ problem, BoE deputy suggests, instead favouring a ‘multi-pronged’ regulatory approach
Sub-Saharan African countries need more responsive policy – IMF staff
Some central banks “impeded” in pursuit of primary mandate; staff report discourages government and structural development financing
Esma finds CCPs resilient ‘overall’ in first stress test
European Securities and Markets Authority says first annual stress tests show European central counterparties are “overall” well prepared to face “extreme but plausible” market shocks
RBA cuts to 1.75% as data disappoints
Glenn Stevens points to “unexpectedly low” inflation data as the Reserve Bank of Australia cuts its key rate by 25bp; Australian dollar slides following decision
People: Fed appoints new director; Ghana and Uzbekistan add deputies
Matthew Eichner named director of reserve bank operations and payment systems at the Fed board; Bank of Ghana and Central Bank of Uzbekistan name new deputy governors
SNB officials fend off latest ideas for reform
Thomas Jordan and Jean Studer warn of the damage that could be done by proposals including sovereign money, broader mandate and using reserves to create sovereign wealth fund
Riksbank urges FMIs to work against cyber threats on strategic level
Survey reveals not all FMIs have strategy to counteract cyber threats; Riksbank suggests work needs to be done at a “strategic level”
Rajan sided with the consensus, minutes show
RBI governor cuts rates in line with views of external advisers; four of the five members wanted to reduce the repo rate at the April 5 meeting
‘Challenging' year spurs diversification of Hong Kong's exchange fund
HKMA says it is accelerating its process of reserves diversification after it was hit by a "triple whammy" in all major asset classes in 2015
IMF staff weigh options for tackling Chinese NPLs
Technical note authored by three IMF employees considers how securitising NPLs or converting them to equity might work in the Chinese context; latest CBRC figures show the stock is growing
Nonlinear models struggle to outperform VARs, Azerbaijani paper finds
Central bank’s first working paper finds various different nonlinear forecasting models perform poorly against autoregressive and VAR models, and even random walks
Bean welcomes bid to increase ONS access to public data
Reforming the legal framework will improve ONS access to administrative data, former BoE deputy says, adding the ONS must be more proactive in acquiring and producing data
Liberia appoints board member as new governor
Liberian president appoints Milton Weeks to lead central bank; new appointee was commercial banker and investment adviser
RBI plans to regulate nascent P2P market
Central bank proposes bringing peer-to-peer lending within its regulatory remit, fearing lack of oversight might lead the rapidly growing sector to develop “unhealthy practices”
National Bank of Romania flags ‘severe systemic risk’ posed by legislative framework
Central bank publishes first of two financial stability reports due this year, after change in policy; stresses concerns over range of legislative initiatives, including "debt discharge" law
Wheeler says further easing may be needed as RBNZ holds
Wheeler says interest rate cuts could be needed, though the RBNZ kept its key rate at 2.25% today; mixed picture with dairy export prices improving but currency still high