Central Banking
MAS eases policy in first move since January
Singapore's central bank cuts rate at which currency is allowed to strengthen amid Asia slowdown; keeps width and centre of policy band unchanged
Turkish paper explores productivity differentials
Countries caught in middle-income trap suffered lower productivity gains than others that had ‘graduated’ from it, finds research focused on period from 1950-2005
RBNZ governor reiterates further easing ‘seems likely’
Graeme Wheeler says the central bank is ‘conscious’ of the impact low rates can have on housing demand; RBNZ has cut OCR by 75bp since June
Eurozone policy-makers and researchers puzzled by trends in long-term inflation expectations
Eurozone inflation more strongly influenced by inflation expectations, the ECB notes; two central bank working papers say data shows unexpected changes
Ex-Albanian governor acquitted of ‘abuse of office’
Former Albanian central bank governor Ardian Fullani found innocent of ‘abuse of office’; left role in 2014 after parliamentary vote
BoE’s new MPC member grilled on financial assets
Treasury Committee questions Gertjan Vlieghe on real or perceived conflict of interest; Ian McCafferty justifies view on rate hike in reappointment hearing
Macro-prudential tools can influence inflation, Menon says
MAS managing director outlines interaction of prudential tools and monetary policy, saying Singapore deliberately used macro-prudential tools to help lower inflation
Fed’s Brainard counsels patience on interest rates
Governor Lael Brainard warns there could be ‘some distance to go’ before reaching full employment in the US, and questions the impact of further labour market improvements on inflation
BoE’s Sharp wants FPC powers over buy-to-let market
UK Treasury will consult on the prospect of handing the FPC powers of direction over buy-to-let lending; external FPC member in favour
Swedish economists add voices to criticism of leaning against the wind
Current and former Riksbank deputy governors Martin Flodén and Lars Svensson warn against the large rate hikes necessary to address financial stability concerns
Eurosystem’s asset purchase programme should increase growth by 1% annually, paper says
The Eurosystem’s asset purchase programme could increase growth and inflation by 1% annually for two years, a working paper from the Bank of Italy predicts
Developing country central banks cannot rush into full independence, Botswana governor says
Botswana’s central bank governor tells an IMF seminar developing country central banks need to move carefully towards independence on price stability
People: NY Fed appoints supervision head; Israel reorganises supervision department
Kevin Stiroh to head financial institutions supervision group at New York Fed from October 26; departure of two deputy supervisors from Bank of Israel prompts reshuffle; and more
BoE paper explores money and credit at sectoral level
Working paper models sectors separately before ‘knitting’ them together; authors use framework to examine financial shock and use of quantitative easing to tackle it
Ingves laments complexity in Basel trading book
Basel Committee chair says he would have preferred a simpler approach to market risk; work on other risks will tend towards greater simplicity, and will likely include external credit ratings
Poloz explores ‘risk management’ in policy framework
Bank of Canada governor says monetary policy cannot always be used to lean against the wind, but financial stability impact can be taken into account on occasion
Financial Stability Board should define shadow banking, Irish market supervisor says
Financial Stability Board is the best body to give regulators a clear definition of the shadow banking sector, says the Irish central bank’s director of markets supervision
Central bankers challenge Caruana on leaning against wind
IMF panel displays broad range of views on interest rates as a financial stability tool – but none of the central bankers are willing to go as far as the BIS general manager
Bank of Japan launches updated payments platform
New BoJ-NET system goes live tomorrow, days after launch of China's CIPS platform and RMB surpasses yen as global payments currency
Fed encouraged to act as FOMC members eye new data
Stanley Fischer reveals encouragement from emerging market officials to ‘just do it’ and raise rates; Dennis Lockhart singles out importance of consumer data in coming weeks
Renminbi now fourth most-used world payment currency
The Chinese currency overtakes the yen with a share of 2.79% in global payments by value
FOMC minutes spell out inflation concerns
Several members were concerned disinflationary pressure from low oil prices and a strong dollar could persist longer than anticipated and ‘delay or diminish’ the expected rise in inflation
Minneapolis Fed president open to cutting rates
Narayana Kocherlakota stresses room for improvement in US labour market, noting low inflation could give the Fed space to pursue more accommodative policy
Chinese slowdown could be harder than many economists think, paper argues
Chinese potential growth could be lower and its coming slowdown harder than many think; growth could slow to 5% annually by 2020, says French working paper