Central Banking
Visitors to ‘play policy-maker’ at new MAS gallery
Monetary Authority of Singapore launches latest financial literacy initiative; visitors able to ‘play policy-maker’ through interactive programs
Bulgaria launches asset quality review and stress tests
Bulgaria’s central bank will conduct an asset quality review of commercial banks, followed by stress tests; the move is in response to the 2014 failure of the country’s fourth-largest bank
RBA board agrees China has ‘scope to respond’ if outlook worsens
Minutes from February meeting reveal board is wary a ‘sharp slowing’ in economic activity could spill over to other economies in region, though Chinese authorities could respond
‘No Basel IV’, Draghi tells European Parliament
Banks will not face significantly higher capital requirements, Mario Draghi tells the Econ committee; UK agreement with rest of EU should be “clear”
BoJ’s Nakaso sees analytical challenge in gauging reforms
Policy board member says the design of standard models may be one reason why it is hard to tell whether Japan needs demand- or supply-side reform
IMF paper questions ‘visceral opposition’ to inflow controls
Guilty by association: controls on capital inflows “inextricably” linked to those on outflows, paper says; controls not “worse” or “costlier” than other policy tools
Financial variables improve output gap estimates, BoE paper finds
Adding financial variables to estimates of the output gap can allow policy-makers to spot trouble on the horizon more easily, authors say
Fiscal dominance can invert transmission mechanism, Lahiri and Patel find
Authors show ‘statutory liquidity requirement’ and fiscal dominance can invert the effects of monetary policy or render it impotent; suggest ‘rebalancing’ India’s reform agenda
Ukrainian central bank calls for parliament to pass consumer protection law
Ukraine’s central bank has called for the country’s parliament to pass two stalled laws aimed at protecting consumers of financial services as concerns grow over provision of foreign aid
Austria should ‘stand ready’ to tighten capital requirements, IMF staff say
The country has made ‘significant progress’ in restructuring the regulatory and supervisory framework, the report says, but the banking sector's resilience could be strengthened
Debt repayment problems have ‘severe consequences’ on consumption, paper finds
Quarterly consumption 30% lower when debt repayment problems arise, research suggests, while recovery after the arrears is smaller than the initial decline
Dudley says US households responding more cautiously to house price growth
New York Fed report finds housing debt has been relatively flat over past few years despite house prices rising steeply over the period; points to higher principal debt repayments
BoE sketches proposals for sharia-compliant facilities
Options for deposit facilities include wakalah or commodity murabahah, with the possibility of liquidity insurance to follow
Rajan tells banks to prepare for ‘deep surgery’
RBI governor says banks will have until March 2017 to clean up their balance sheets; banking sector represents weak spot of otherwise vibrant economy
Emerging markets leading the way in cutting-edge payments innovations, UK report finds
Mobile payments embraced in emerging markets where banking infrastructure lags; Kenya’s M-Pesa system handles flows equivalent to a quarter of nation's GNP
Hungarian ‘bad bank’ gets Brussels go-ahead
European Commission authorises Hungary’s ‘bad bank’ to begin purchasing distressed real estate assets; Hungarian government and EBRD to buy up part of Erste Group operations
Certified central bankers: BoE launches new qualification
BoE says 80 students to begin postgraduate study in October; retiring Paul Fisher to help design and teach latter stages of qualification
Australian governor Stevens stresses policy ‘flexibility’
Governor says Reserve Bank of Australia has scope to ease monetary policy if need be, though economy expected to continue expanding
Polish central bank warns loan proposals could pose ‘significant risk’
Poland’s central bank criticises some elements of proposals for restructuring Swiss franc-denominated loans; also argues incoming banking tax will have ‘negative consequences’
No room for mediocrity, Kenya governor warns banks
Patrick Njoroge tells bankers there is ‘only the thinnest of margins’ for error; each customer should be treated as if they were ‘the only customer in the world’
ECB chooses SIA-Colt partnership for T2S connection
European Central Bank confirms it will use SIA and Colt's 'value-added network services' to connect to Target2-securities
Fischer raises concern over ‘stigma’ around Fed loans
Fed vice-chair Stanley Fischer warns new reporting requirements in the Dodd-Frank Act will “likely add to the challenge of reducing stigma” associated with borrowing from discount window
Irish central bank begins publishing commission minutes
Ireland’s central bank starts publishing minutes from commission meetings; oversight body’s minutes will be released ‘to provide greater understanding’ of internal debates
Lender of last resort function must be flexible to cope with crises, BoE’s Hauser says
Central banks should prepare in advance to open up lender of last resort frameworks to new counterparties and instruments, Bank of England executive director says