Central Banking
Global lending conditions more connected than ever, says BIS's Turner
Big emerging market corporations are borrowing abroad, while global capital has been flowing into EMs – meaning lending conditions are more strongly connected than before
Bank of Ghana brings forward rate decision as falling currency feeds inflation
The central bank's monetary policy committee will meet tomorrow instead of February 19 following further weakening of the cedi; analysts expect rate increase of at least 100 basis points
RBA changes tune on cash and exchange rates
Reserve Bank of Australia hints at a ‘period of stability’ in interest rates and welcomes the weaker Australian dollar
National Bank of Hungary honours Austrian governor
Ewald Nowotny receives Lamfalussy Award for ‘exceptional international efforts’; associated conference in Budapest features comments from a host of European central bankers
Interest swaps with longer maturities more sensitive to macroeconomic news, DNB paper suggests
The impact in Sweden of macroeconomic news on the sensitivity of interest rate swaps was reduced at the effective zero lower bound at short maturities but not at longer maturities, according to paper
Ben Bernanke joins Brookings; State Bank of Pakistan promotes deputy to acting governor
Bernanke, who left the Federal Reserve on Friday, will engage in ‘research and writing' at the Washington think-tank; State Bank of Pakistan deputy steps up after governor's departure
Global crisis weakened monetary policy transmission, Czech paper shows
New research from the Czech National Bank studies the transmission of monetary policy through different channels, finding it works as expected but was weakened in the financial crisis
Bank of England to lay off up to 100 staff
The central bank is looking to save £18 million over the next three years by making operations leaner; union representatives ‘strongly' oppose resulting redundancies
Banque de France official: Sepa delays incur 'collective cost'
Denis Beau says the market participants that missed the February 1 deadline for migration to the new credit transfer and direct debit schemes should switch as soon as possible
Zimbabwe central bank aims to regain LORL and rate-setting powers
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe set to offer overnight lending to banks at a rate based on government debt yields from the end of March; will also begin issuing government treasuries
ECB releases AQR framework
Danièle Nouy and Vítor Constâncio outline the ‘building blocks’ of the asset quality review; say recruitment for the SSM is progressing ‘at full steam’
Unco-ordinated macro-prudential policies could result in ‘capital war’, says BoJ paper
Johns Hopkins professor argues that, absent any co-operation, countries across the globe will implement macro-prudential policies in a manner ‘reminiscent of an inefficient arms race’
Liberian credit grew 42.5% in 2013, says central bank annual report
Total bank assets rose by 23.7%, while deposits grew 26.1%; internal activities centred mainly on strengthening the capacity of staff to meet skill requirements, according to the bank
Ingves calls for consistency in risk weights for credible capital ratios
BCBS chair says underlying differences in risk drive lion's share of risk-weight variations, but some arise from supervisory and practice-based idiosyncrasies
Eurozone crisis countries had to grasp the nettle of reform, says Cœuré
Delaying reforms until countries had emerged from the crisis would have been counterproductive, ECB board member says; effect of zero lower bound has been overstated, too
Central banks must lean against boom and bust to retain credibility, says Borio
A more symmetrical response to booms and busts is required to leave policy-makers with the ammunition and credibility to tackle them, says top BIS economist
EBA announces key ratios for European bank stress tests
European Banking Authority wants to see CET1 ratios of 8%, with 5.5% the threshold for an ‘adverse scenario'; stress tests to begin in the spring with results due out in October
Hungary targets forint entry into CLS
Hungary's central bank has committed itself to bringing the currency into CLS, and sources believe it could be added as early as next year
Bernanke passes torch to Yellen as poll shows US torn on his legacy
Janet Yellen to be sworn in as Federal Reserve chair on Monday, but de facto takes over when Bernanke bids farewell today
Sint Maarten and Curaçao monetary union needs 'less political wisdom', more co-ordinated action
Emsley Tromp, president of the countries' shared central bank says monetary policy is helping to shrink persistent current account deficits but argues more co-ordinated action 'imperative'
Unanimous Fed decision to taper 'sets precedent'
FOMC scales back monthly purchases by another $10 billion, makes no mention of EM turmoil; unanimous decision seen as making dissent less likely in coming meetings
Kazakhstan experiences 10-year inflation low
Quarterly inflation falls to 0.6% in latest figures; National Bank of Kazakhstan predicts it will increase in the coming quarter but remain in check throughout 2014
RBNZ signals impending rate rise
Reserve Bank of New Zealand says it expects to increase the OCR ‘soon’ as inflationary pressures look set to increase over the next two years; today’s rate hold surprises markets
People: Israel appoints new currency head; ESRB re-elects Ingves
ESRB also reappoints Marek Belka, president of the National Bank of Poland, to steering committee and appoints Richard Portes, founder of CEPR, to Advisory Scientific Committee