Central Banking
ECB restores ‘waiver’ to let Greek banks access cheaper finance
ECB restores waiver to Greek government bonds, lowering the cost of finance for Greece's central bank; demands further adherence to conditionality, but holds out possibility of buying government bonds
News impacts stock prices through more than transient sentiment, paper finds
Working paper uses textual processing to examine more than 900,000 news stories; negative stories have a longer and more delayed reaction, authors find
Succession in doubt at Malta's central bank as deputy withdraws from consideration
Maltese deputy governor formally asks not to be considered as next governor following corruption allegations; prime minister’s office says current governor will step down by July 1
Kiuchi says BoJ must communicate better
Board member concerned monetary policy is becoming less predictable as observers expect ever more easing; warns against use of negative rates
SSM challenges eurozone banks to improve governance
Supervisor warns most significant banks in eurozone fall short of international best practices; presents lessons from assessment of management bodies and risk appetite frameworks
National Reserve Bank of Tonga considering short-term policy rate, IMF says
Fund staff encourage Tonga to reform its monetary policy framework; suggest introducing new policy rate and inflation target range more appropriate to historic and current levels
Governor: Philippines central bank to keep ‘steady hand’ on monetary policy
Philippines central bank to keep watchful eye on uncertainty surrounding advanced economies’ policy prospects; inflation environment remains ‘manageable’
Rajan urges completion of bank cleanup
Outgoing governor argues actions taken to address public sector bank balance sheets must be taken to their “logical conclusion”; encourages government to provide capital injection
SNB paper challenges idea that capital flows drive Swiss franc value
Empirical study finds no strong relationship between capital flows and the level of the franc, meshing with earlier literature showing asset prices can move sharply without major portfolio shifts
Fed should prepare to communicate inflation overshoot – IMF
IMF urges Fed to continue on “very gradual” path in raising benchmark rate; central bank should tolerate inflation overshoot to stop expectations drifting down
FSB unveils proposals to curb asset management risks
Consultation tackles liquidity mismatch, leverage, op risk and securities lending, with the aim of heading off potential trouble from the recent growth of asset management
Jamaican authorities send mixed messages on adoption of inflation targeting
IMF tells central bank to focus on single mandate but Jamaican authorities say more time is needed to investigate whether path is suitable
Discontinuation of Libor would result in ‘significant systemic risk’, Powell says
Fed’s Powell discusses future of Libor; discontinuing the benchmark rate could entail “substantial losses”, he says
IMF paper explores transmission of volatility along yield curve
Working paper finds differences in transmission between countries with established inflation-targeting frameworks and those in transition
Renminbi investments to be included in Singapore reserves
Monetary Authority of Singapore says its investments in the Chinese currency will be included in official reserves “from June 2016 onwards”, now it is easier to repatriate funds
Zhu Min will leave IMF in July
Lagarde praises deputy managing director for his “formidable intellect” and passion for economics; search begins for a successor
Dutch central bank calls for pension reforms
Dutch pension schemes have “fundamental vulnerabilities” and need a “major overhaul”, DNB says; calls for variable contribution and accrual rates and “individual life-cycle investment policy”
Eurozone investment still ‘unsatisfactory’, Draghi says
Mario Draghi calls for extension of European Investment plan and national reforms targeted at "bottlenecks"; eurozone investment still "unsatisfactory" despite recent gains, ECB president says
Gunman killed as shots fired within Central Bank of Venezuela
Two people injured as armed man raids Central Bank of Venezuela; woman held hostage before assailant was killed, governor says
Yellen pushing for diversity at Fed and beyond
Fed chair expresses concern at uneven distribution of job gains in US, with African-American unemployment much higher than average; initiatives under way to boost diversity at Fed
BoJ research turns to new data set to study wage-price links
Research sheds light on factors that may push up wage expectations, drawing on a unique survey of Japanese expectations
German Constitutional Court rules in favour of ECB programme
Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court rules ECB may undertake outright monetary transactions, but sets strict conditions to be monitored by the German government
Australian fixed-income markets continue to function ‘satisfactorily’, says Debelle
Regulatory change contributing to satisfactory performance, assistant governor notes; large share of activity in derivatives helping bond market to be successful
Inclusion survey identifies ‘significant gaps’ in data collection
Report published by Irving Fisher Committee on Central Bank Statistics highlights issues around how data is collected, including lack of integration with national statistical frameworks