Central Banking
Central Bank of Hungary buys $1.8m vacation home
Rural ‘castle hotel' boasts swimming pool, beer pavilion and a bowling alley; will be used for ‘recreation purposes' by staff and create local jobs, bank says
Time for clock synchronisation – regulators
Global regulators assess the need for a central reference clock to aid investigations into alleged abuse of financial markets
Minneapolis Fed paper challenges New Keynesian ‘liquidity trap'
New model challenges dominant view of post-crisis monetary policy, claim Minneapolis Fed economists
Bank of Japan expects inflation to remain short of target for ‘some time'
BoJ policy board votes to continue expanding monetary base by ¥60-70 trillion annually; effects of recent decline in demand ‘expected to wane gradually'
Mexico’s Carstens hails Fed’s communication on tapering
Augustin Carstens says Fed has ‘gone out of its way’ to spell out timing and dangers of adjustment; calls on Europe and Japan to ‘depend less on monetary policy’
Sovereign wealth fund could help Macao overcome gambling dependency, IMF says
Central bank could manage new sovereign wealth fund as Macao authorities seek higher return on booming reserves; IMF encourages idea in staff report
ECB hiring consultant to help design ABS programme
Mario Draghi says the preparations towards buying asset-backed securities are being made ‘with the expectation we will take action in this field’
Ireland working paper examines effect of ECB policy on interbank repo market
Research by economists from Central Bank of Ireland, New York Fed and Barclays Capital finds some substitution effect between official auctions and repo market activity
Bank of Albania reviews procedures after employees steal $6m in cash
Governor remains in post despite public demonstrations over the theft of more than $6 million in Albanian banknotes by central bank employees
IMF paper considers corporate governance reform in Japan
IMF researchers say corporate governance reform could help ‘unstash the cash’ held by Japanese firms and improve the economy’s growth potential
Malaysian deputy targets 'distortions’ in payments market
Muhammad bin Ibrahim says ‘more needs to be done’ to correct price distortions that he believes are holding back electronic payments in the country
People: New chief economist at ADB; BoE insurance director departs
Columbia University’s Shang-Jin Wei joins the Asian Development Bank as chief economist; Julian Adams leaves the BoE; HSBC names new point man for central banks in Asia; and more
Macro-prudential policies could ‘become part of the problem’, says BIS’ Borio
Weight of expectation on macro-prudential policies to address financial system stresses may be too great, says BIS economics head Claudio Borio; stress tests ‘woefully deficient’ in predicting crises
UK government to 'explore potential of virtual currencies'
Major study will look into whether regulation is required for businesses to set up in the UK, says chancellor George Osborne, who adds virtual currencies can ‘transform lives’
Fed blasts big banks over ‘unrealistic' living wills
Eleven firms, including Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, must take ‘immediate action to improve their resolvability', US central bank says
PRA highlights restrictions on group own funds
Implementation note says capital instruments issued by third-country undertakings must conform to Solvency II to qualify as loss absorbing
Bank of Israel expects 0.4% inflation for 2014
Low rates prompted by flagging domestic demand, appreciation of the shekel and low inflation environment worldwide, bank says in monetary policy report
Bank of Zambia holds interest rate as inflation stabilises
First MPC meeting of new quarterly schedule sees no change in policy; bumper maize harvest and a stabilising exchange rate credited with lowering inflation
Bundesbank economists propose indicator for price competitiveness
Working paper published by the European Central Bank develops new indicator for international price competitiveness in an attempt to provide a tool for policy analysis
RBI’s Rajan warns of possible asset price collapse; euro ‘too strong’
Financial sector imbalances could cause sudden price reversals and sharp spikes in volatility, risks many macroeconomists are still blind to, says Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan
Japan's ageing population will have deflationary effects, IMF paper finds
Deflationary effect will hit other advanced economies too, but can be countered through monetary policy and structural reforms, IMF economists write
Shrinking BoJ balance sheet will take longer post-QQE than in 2006
Economist says unwinding the BoJ’s asset purchases will take longer when QQE finishes than it did at the end of QE in 2006, because this time it is buying bonds with longer maturities
ECB paper quantifies OMT benefits
OMT announcements depressed Italian and Spanish two-year government bond yields by roughly 200 basis points, but left their French and German equivalents ‘largely unaffected’
UK rates set to stay low, says former MPC member Wadhwani
The cost of tightening too late is far lower than that of choking the recovery, says former monetary policy-maker Sushil Wadhwani