Central Banking
FOMC members 'undecided' over further asset purchases
Federal Open Market Committee displays more uncertainty over when to halt asset purchase programme; wary of buying more securities but scared of ending purchases too soon
IMF staff present mixed economic outlook following G-20 meeting
Report sounds note of cautious optimism as financial markets recover, but downside risks remain around the implementation of important policies in the US, Japan and Europe
New Zealand Reserve Bank 'prepared to intervene' in FX markets - governor
Graeme Wheeler says currency is over-valued, and investors should know that the Kiwi is 'not a one-way bet'
UK statistics office explains QE impact on national debt
ONS attempts to clarify accounting practices used in transferring cash reserves from Bank of England’s quantitative easing programme to the Treasury
Australian banks propose ‘layered' high-speed payments system
Industry body presents ‘fast payments solution' based on core infrastructure and additional services; RBA describes proposals as ‘substantial initial progress'
UK’s Turner says financial fragmentation may not be a bad thing
Chairman of UK FSA says restrictions to cross-border financial flows have important benefits that should be weighed against costs
IMF paper urges ‘meaningful debt restructuring’ in private sector
Study says 'now is the time' for governments to tackle households and corporate sector debt; out-of-court restructurings may be a useful tool
Report slams IMF over Article IV ‘formalistic rituals’
Independent Evaluation Office finds IMF has been consistently failing in some areas, with the Fund paying little attention to the needs of individual countries
BoE minutes signal ‘shift in remit' to support economic growth
Minutes reveal governor Mervyn King sided with expanding QE, leading analysts to speculate that inflation is no longer a target
Eurozone ‘funding for lending scheme' gains favour
ABN Amro says a eurozone FLS would be ‘the most practical way of dealing with the credit constraints of SMEs'; Sony Kapoor says ECB would be ‘irresponsible' to ignore it
Zhou Xiaochuan to stay on as governor of PBoC, says Reuters
China’s top central banker and renminbi reformer Zhou Xiaochuan may not step down from his post as previously expected, according to a news agency report
People: NZ names new currency head, Fischer shuffles Israeli appointment committee
Reserve Bank of New Zealand hires retail banking expert as new head of currency; Bank of Israel and Richmond Fed name new members to key advisory groups
Bank of Portugal research adds new variable to explain export behaviour
Working paper asks whether domestic demand pressures affect Portugal's export performance; results point to asymmetric relationship
BoJ paper finds asymmetric macroprudential growth impacts
Research suggests macroprudential policy is good at cooling the economy but less effective at heating it, while the growth impact differs between tools
Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency welcomes diversification away from oil
Annual report reveals boost to growth and falling inflation in 2011; welcomes government intent to expand non-oil sector
Systemic risk measurement gets book treatment
Jorge Chan-Lau draws on experiences at IMF, World Bank and the central banks of Canada, Chile and Malaysia to provide methods and tools to measure systemic risk
Draghi wants variable NAV for all European MMFs
European Systemic Risk Board – chaired by ECB president – demands changes to the way money market funds present asset value, but industry body slams recommendations
Dutch central bank wants audit investigation into its role in SNS collapse
DNB says it is "pleading" for European rules to be changed to allow an investigation by the national auditor
BoJ board divided ahead of new governor appointment
Minutes detail arguments made by two policy board members who opposed move to 2% target, and why they were overruled; Shinzo Abe hints Bank of Japan could lose independence if target is not hit
Bundesbank’s Dombret warns low interest rates are not 'suitable therapy'
Executive board member Andreas Dombret says exit from low interest rate environment must take place at ‘right time’; expounds damage it causes to savers
Bank of Finland paper urges QE use outside crises
Analysis based on DSGE model finds asset purchases are a useful monetary policy tool in all states of the economy, but should be co-ordinated with conventional interest rate policy
Ukrainian deputy director says economy is ‘enjoying’ deflation
Oleksandr Arseniuk says ‘low inflation environment’ – with CPI at -0.2% in January – is benefiting the Ukrainian economy
RBA minutes warn growth may wobble in 2013
Minutes suggest economy is struggling to rebalance away from mining as peak in resource investment approaches, but low inflation gives room for further rate cuts
ECB researchers suggest refinements to macro stress tests
Working paper identifies a number of factors in addition to growth that determine the rate of non-performing loans; authors say this could allow for more accurate stress testing