Central Banking
Danish paper examines effects of household leverage
Over-leveraged households saw the biggest hit to their consumption when the 2008 financial crisis struck, but the relationship broke down as the crisis continued, working paper finds
Downturn could halve capital ratios of biggest US banks, Fed stress tests show
Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley all perform below average in Fed stress tests
Ireland’s Murphy marshals industry in support of harmonised regulation
Director of markets supervision laments ‘insufficient trans-Atlantic dialogue’ and tells asset managers who want better global harmonisation of financial regulation to make their voices heard
Robert Pringle’s Viewpoint: Storm signals over world money
Leading financial statesmen deplore governments’ neglect of the international monetary system
Kuroda: BoJ will do whatever necessary to hit 2% inflation
The Bank of Japan is right to target 2% inflation, governor Haruhiko Kuroda said today - adding the bank will not hesitate to make any adjustments necessary to get there
Underemployment's impact on spare capacity smaller than thought, says Weale
Bank of England's Martin Weale says impact of underemployment on UK spare capacity is 'smaller than might appear at first sight'; productivity of extra 1% employment likely lower than average
Weaker currency boosts Australian growth, study shows
A 10% drop in the value of the Australian dollar would boost economic growth in the country by 1% after a couple of years, RBA paper finds
Troika warns Greek capital buffers may be insufficient
Troika's warning of ‘upside risks' if Greek banks are not ‘swiftly' recapitalised contrasts with optimistic statement put out by Bank of Greece on March 6
Chan wins another five-year term atop HKMA
HKMA chief executive praised by Hong Kong government for his steady hand on the tiller throughout the financial crisis and developing Hong Kong as an offshore renminbi centre
Fed sends mixed messages on future interest rates
Dovish statement by FOMC yesterday signals low interest rates for ‘considerable' time after QE ends, but voting members' projections see interest rates heading upwards
Europe's banking union gets single resolution mechanism
Compromise deal is reached over single resolution mechanism, which will have a fully mutualised resolution fund within eight years
UK to introduce ‘world's most secure coin', claims the Royal Mint
New £1 coin first ever to feature banknote security technology; ‘could potentially change the way coins are made in the future', UK's Royal Mint claims
Ingves: Sweden needs to go beyond international regulations
Sveriges Riksbank governor Stefan Ingves says Swedish banks’ funding habits and the country’s high levels of household debt warrant stricter regulations ‘in certain respects’
Canada's Poloz says demographic shift may be shackling growth
Bank of Canada governor says country's demographic profile means contribution to potential growth by human capital will diminish as 'baby boomers' retire and more people save for retirement
Carney puts collaboration at core of new BoE structure
Mark Carney outlines plan to take the Bank of England to the forefront of timely, cross-bank policy-making; concern his shake-up may result in a lack of specialist expertise among some unit heads
Evaluation of Luxembourg paper produces ‘encouraging’ results
Research published by the Central Bank of Luxembourg finds the monthly indicator it uses to forecast GDP delivered a 'satisfactory' performance between 2007 and 2013
Danish central bank likens Bitcoins to 'glass beads'
National Bank of Denmark issues note highlighting the differences between Bitcoins and fiat currencies; stresses that virtual currencies have no inherent value
Kuroda confident of hitting inflation target
Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda says economy is following the path to 2% inflation ‘as expected’; fellow board member Takahide Kiuchi has ‘more cautious outlook’
Carney unveils major BoE shake-up
‘Minouche' Shafik to become BoE's first deputy governor for banking and markets, replacing Paul Fisher on MPC; external MPC member Broadbent also made deputy governor
Colombian paper finds wholesale funding can increase financial sector fragility
Monitoring credit funding sources could provide an additional tool to warn against banking disruptions, paper shows
German court rejects challenge to ESM legality
Constitutional court backs Germany’s participation in European Stability Mechanism; Basel Committee rules that banks do not have to hold capital against ESM bonds
ECB paper sees merits in fiscal activism at ZLB
Research calls for a policy-maker who cares more about stabilising inflation, relative to government spending, than the private sector when nominal interest rates are at zero lower bound
Bank of Mozambique wins IMF praise for anchoring inflation as economy takes off
IMF mission finds the Mozambican central bank is containing rapid credit growth and inflation as the economy grows amid heavy government investment
Central banks have ‘irreducible’ role in financial stability
Reserve Bank of Australia assistant governor Malcolm Edey says central banks are entwined with financial stability whether or not they have formal prudential powers