Central Banking
Sweden’s Riksbank has mixed forecasting performance, report finds
Riksbank “relatively good” at projecting growth and unemployment, but less so when it comes to the policy rate; this is “notable” and not “particularly satisfactory”, report notes
Government approves final stage of Thai development plan
Bank of Thailand will promote electronic payments in latest phase of financial sector master plan; all phases to be completed by 2020
RBNZ investigating possible leak
Central bank launches external investigation, after former RBNZ economist was told there would be an unexpected rate cut before the decision was made public
Global financial safety net relies on maintaining IMF resources – paper
Regional funding arrangements and credit swap lines have grown in importance in providing support in times of stress, but maintaining IMF funding remains key, paper says
People: Georgian board approves new governor; T&T gets new board
Koba Gvenetadze clears penultimate hurdle to becoming National Bank of Georgia governor; six new directors join the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago; BIS names Alexandre Lamfalussy fellow
Capital flow measures needed before offshore krona auction, says Guðmundsson
If the currency auction goes to plan, inward flows could strengthen and the Central Bank of Iceland needs the tools to resist them, its governor says
BoE’s Forbes outlines new thinking on current account imbalances
Breaking current account into trade and financial components allows more detailed analysis of when a large imbalance is dangerous and what shocks could cause trouble
IMF staff praise Colombian policy mix as central bank hikes by another 25bp
Co-ordinated policy action is supporting “orderly adjustment” in Colombia’s economy, IMF staff say, including good pass-through of rate hikes; central bank continues to tighten
Vítor Constâncio calls for macro-prudential tools to reach beyond banks
Authorities should be granted wider powers over alternative investment funds and shadow banking sector, including margins and haircuts on derivatives and securities financing, Constâncio says
IMF paper explores spillovers from conventional and Islamic finance
Research considers how monetary policy should adapt to the different stages of development of Islamic finance, and its interactions with conventional finance
Inflation expectations well-anchored, Richmond Fed president says
Lacker tells audience at Banque de France he believes expectations are anchored, despite drop in inflation compensation; Villeroy de Galhau notes drop in market-based measures in eurozone
Eurozone not at zero lower bound, Praet says
ECB chief economist Peter Praet has said the eurozone is not at its zero lower bound; remarks may not contradict earlier guidance by ECB president Draghi
Fed QE drives portfolio rebalancing towards foreign assets, Brazil paper finds
Research analyses ‘comprehensive’ dataset for Brazilian capital flows and a smaller one for other EM economies
Rosengren eyes balance between bank resilience and loans
Boston Fed president tells New York conference that supervisors should encourage banks to maintain lending when striving to meet capital-to-asset ratios, but stress the need for quick recapitalisation
BoJ establishes working groups to consider how to make best use of BOJ-NET
Working group to look at ways to make effective use of settlement system; BOJ-NET to process more transactions across time zones
Currency networks shape global spillovers, BIS authors find
Authors make use of recently enhanced BIS data sets to map currency networks, studying how these affected the risk-taking channel of monetary policy during the ‘taper tantrum’
IMF will ‘take stock’ of capital flow policies
IMF may undertake further work on capital flow management and foreign exchange interventions if analysis highlights need for it; fund will also re-examine global safety net
Deputy governor warns of perils in changing Sweden’s inflation target
Sweden would only be able to raise its inflation rate successfully if other major economies around the world did also, deputy governor Ohlsson says – competiveness would disappear
Progress on resolution frameworks has slowed, FSB warns
Few jurisdictions have all the rules in place and legislative progress is slowing, Financial Stability Board says in its latest peer review of resolution regimes
Sarb hikes rate despite split decision on MPC
Monetary policy committee decides to raise key rate by 25bp after an initial 3:3 split; concerns over inflation remain for some members
Inflation and unemployment affect wage rigidity, Icelandic authors find
Research challenges New Keynesian assumption that timings of wage changes are exogenous, showing level of inflation and unemployment also matter
Bank of Israel establishes banking innovation division
New section of banking supervision department formed to help foster innovation but contain the accompanying risks; Dudi Bavli chosen to head division
Researchers propose adapted methodology to assess money market microstructure
The standard algorithm used to assess bilateral exposures in the interbank market needs adapting to make it robust to zero and negative interest rates, two economists argue
Bank of Russia unveils framework for insurance industry regulation
Russia’s central bank will monitor insurance companies for compliance with financial ratios and other indicators; has set up institute for risk management in insurance industry