Central Banking
IMF statisticians create composite index of financial inclusion
A working paper outlines the design of the index and then applies it to a sample of 31 countries; Maldives comes out on top while Chad gets the wooden spoon
Georgians vote on new currency symbol
National Bank of Georgia has shortlisted five designs in the race to represent the national currency, the lari
Pakistan looks to raise public profile of Islamic finance
The State Bank of Pakistan launches a five-year strategic plan to develop Islamic finance domestically and abroad; sets focus on improving public perception of the industry
Banks could be forced to leave UK if home regulators are found wanting
Draft rules published today by the UK banking supervisor put pressure on non-EEA countries to up supervision of banks that want to do business in London
Europe card fraud up after five-year decline, ECB data show
Growth in online shopping blamed for increase in card payments fraud, which totalled €1.33 billion within the Single Euro Payments Area in 2012 - up 21% on the previous year
Wages more sticky in the US than in Japan, BoJ paper finds
The empirical fit of the New Keynesian Wage Phillips Curve is generally superior for Japan, auhors note; inflation indexation plays a key role in the US, but is less important in Japan, they add
Pope to set up Vatican central bank
Vatican City set to establish its own central bank as Pope Francis looks to overhaul a financial system that has suffered accusations of corruption
Norges Bank review calls on MPC to relinquish control of wealth fund
Annual report published today raises ‘serious concern' over monetary policy committee's capacity to oversee $830 billion wealth fund with most members having other full-time jobs
Finnish paper finds forecast errors correlate with subjective uncertainty, not 'disagreement'
Paper analyses forecasts in the ECB's Survey of Professional Forecasters and the US Survey of Professional Forecasters to find the best predictor of errors
Fed transcripts reveal origins of modern forward guidance
Transcripts from the FOMC’s meetings in 2008 reveal the considerations that informed forward guidance at the time and continue to influence central banks’ communication policy today
Policy must do more to get women and low-skilled into work, paper finds
Slovak economists analyse the elasticity of labour supply and find that changes in the tax and benefits system could entice women in particular into the workforce
Cold comfort for Icesave guarantors
Putative Icelandic government demands on the Landsbanki insolvency estate likely behind UK and Dutch lawsuits
Ukraine appoints revolutionary leader to head up central bank
Stepan Kubiv, deputy chairman of Ukraine parliament's banking and finance committee, will take over at the central bank having ‘administered' the protests that toppled the regime
Sweden mulls tighter rules on wholesale forex funding
Group comprising top-ranking decision-makers, including Riksbank governor Stefan Ingves and the minister of financial markets, highlights ‘big risk’ of foreign wholesale funding
Financial market fragility might be down to 'poor policies', says Lacker
Stylised and abstract economic models used to 'justify' Fed intervention during the financial crisis may not have received enough discussion, Richmond Fed president argues
Fed floats ‘advanced approach' for calculating risk weights
Biggest US banks will use new approach to calculate risk-based capital ratios from Q2 2014; changes to stress-test procedures pushed back a year to October 2015
Sepa obstacles have 'not evaporated completely’, warns Finland paper
Bank of Finland researcher finds the advent of the Single Euro Payments Area has not removed all of the barriers to ‘a true domestic products and services market’
G-20 pledge signposts en route to 'normal' monetary policy
Central bank governors and finance ministers in the world's biggest economies promise to be ‘mindful of impacts on the global economy' as they exit unconventional monetary policy
Singapore unveils faster payments service
The Association of Banks in Singapore says ‘almost immediate’ payments service for interbank transfers will launch in the middle of the year
Australia, Korea strike $5 billion swap deal
Glenn Stevens and Choong Soo Kim sign the countries’ first swap arrangement on the sidelines of the G-20 meeting as they look to promote bilateral trade
Saudi inflation expected to fall below 3% in 2014
Country's cost of living index peaked at 4% last April before inflationary pressures in the transport and restaurant sectors abated during second half of the year
Fed publishes FOMC transcripts from 'crisis year' 2008
Transcripts of FOMC meetings from the year Lehman Brothers went bust reveal thinking behind exceptional monetary policy decisions
Iceland governor must re-apply for post as government mulls central bank shake-up
Ministry of finance says decision to review central bank's governing structure means it will advertise for applications for governorship; media speculate that political motives play a part
Forex loans helped Hungarian firms invest more - until the forint fell in the ‘great recession'
Working paper finds Hungarian firms that borrowed in foreign currencies invested more before the crisis, but experienced a negative balance sheet effect thereafter