Central Banking
Rajan: ‘Let’s fight the anti-inflation fight once’
Raghuram Rajan says risks to inflation target have become ‘more balanced’ in recent months, but stresses the need to remain ‘vigilant’ as RBI holds key rate at 8%
BoE appoints UBS UK head to top banking regulator
Bank of England appoints two new members to the Prudential Regulation Authority, the country’s chief micro-prudential regulator
BoE’s Haldane sees greater role for central banks as risks shift
Central banks may have to address different episodes of financial instability as risks shift from the banking sector to other financial players, says BoE chief economist Andrew Haldane
Chan says Hong Kong has nothing to fear from further mainland liberalisation
Competition from Shanghai 'not a zero sum game' says HKMA head; rather, further internationalisation of the renminbi will create a 'bigger pie'
Adjusted calculation of US employment-to-population ratio signals return to pre-crisis level
Atlanta Fed paper uses micro-data to account for individual characteristics and probability of labour force participation; finds ratio has regained pre-recession level of nearly 63%
Banque de France's Le Lorier says good communication can ‘substitute' for rate decisions
First deputy says comms can complement decisions in non-crisis times by revealing variables that inform monetary policy; argues monetary and macro-pru mandates can be reconciled
Bank of Portugal splits failed bank BES in 'clean’ resolution
Portuguese central bank splits troubled lender Banco Espírito Santo into good and bad bank as part of a €4.9 billion rescue
OCC 'disappointed' at lack of accounting convergence
With US and international loan-loss accounting rules set to diverge, bank regulators are preparing to level up the resulting capital differences
ECB economists find ‘considerable heterogeneity’ in impact of crisis
Researchers say that while borrowers ‘benefited’ from low interest rates, debt burdens increased for poor households as their incomes fell
Spencer Dale quits the Bank of England
Bank's head of financial stability and former chief economist quits to join BP, just nine weeks into his new job following a major reshuffle
Former Temasek chairman makes switch to GIC board
S Dhanabalan returns to the GIC board which he left in 2005 to become Temasek chairman; Temasek's head of Europe has also quit the fund
IMF charts path towards PBoC policy rate
Staff report encourages the People’s Bank of China to stabilise borrowing costs in the interbank market as an ‘interim step’ towards establishing a policy rate
Central Bank of Colombia raises rates for fourth consecutive month
Bank raises benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.25% as annual growth is expected to reach 5% this year on the back of jump in household spending
Bank of Russia-owned Sberbank hit with EU sanctions
EU list of sanctioned state-owned banks includes central bank-owned Sberbank, despite the US leaving it off its list this week
Argentina default may threaten central bank reserves
Developments this week could spell trouble for central bank; analyst says markets have overlooked Argentina's ‘heavy' debt repayment schedule going into next year
Polish paper proposes new model for risk of ‘double default' on collateralised loans
Commonly used Gaussian copula-based approach does not properly capture the residual risk to central bank balance sheets posed by correlated defaults
Mundra named RBI deputy governor
Reserve Bank of India announces the appointment of Subhash Sheoratan Mundra, formerly head of Bank of Baroda, as deputy governor
Better budgeting tools could encourage low earners to switch from cash to card
Researchers find that low earners prefer to use cash over the debit card because they find it more effective as a monitoring and budgeting tool
Opinion: Sepa opens borders for European money
ECB’s director-general of market infrastructure and payments reflects on the successful creation of the single euro payments area, its beneficial impacts and the payment cards challenge to come
Fed's Plosser dissents over unchanged forward guidance in face of US 'rebound'
Janet Yellen sees second dissent since taking the Federal Reserve chair in January; FOMC language suggests members are becoming more sanguine about economic trajectory
Nigeria SWF to manage $350m for national electricity buyer
Finance minister backs deal, saying Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority will deliver a better return than the central bank
IMF endorses Japan's QQE despite slowing progress to 2% inflation target
IMF says Bank of Japan does not need to intensify its QQE programme ‘at this point’, though BoJ policy-maker Kiuchi says 2% inflation may need to be a 'long-term' goal
BoE working group finds ‘striking' changes in investment behaviour by insurers and pension funds
Nature of investments has changed markedly over the past 15 years, says Andrew Haldane-led group, which also includes Oxford professor Ian Goldin and Jim O'Neill
Some EU countries unable to punish Emir breaches
Firms in Poland and Ireland cannot be fined for reporting breaches, while Belgium, Portugal and Spain have only recently acquired the ability to impose sanctions