Central Banking
Bank of Japan deputy governor warns over ‘fallacy of composition'
Role of central banks has evolved to include market-maker of last resort and global lender of last resort; however, they must keep a macro-prudential perspective
UK economists divided over BoJ easing
Treasury Select Committee witnesses debate whether BoJ radical easing will overcome decade of deflation; economists fear an ‘unruly spike’ in yields when quantitative easing is unwound
Central Bank of the Philippines continues forex liberalisation drive
Relaxed rules for onshore foreign exchange transactions aim to cope with rising demand and encourage public to move informal transactions into the banking system
Maduro picks central bank chief for Venezuela's finance minister
Nelson Merentes will be finance minister and central bank governor for the time being; analysts see his appointment as part of a shift to a more 'pragmatic chavismo'
IMF publishes new reserve management guidelines
New additions encourage portfolio diversification, greater consideration of an investment's impact on the markets and internal credit rating assessments
SNB paper analyses relationship between monetary policy and financial integration
Study finds that monetary policy can have a larger effect on output and inflation under conditions of greater financial and trade integration
Finance ministers warn US on extraterritoriality
Letter to US Treasury secretary says OTC rules should be applied within national borders only. Signatories include French, German, UK finance ministers
IMFC advocates ‘pragmatic’ approach to resisting capital flows
Committee of the IMF says easing by advanced economies is justified; emerging markets should use a variety of tools to lean against the resulting capital inflows
Fed’s Stein backs ‘committed liquidity facility’ as supplement to Basel LCR
Federal Reserve governor says facility approved for use in Australia could be a good way of maintaining liquidity during crisis and imposing a ‘pollution tax’ on illiquid banks
ECB’s Asmussen deflects criticism over lack of monetary policy action
ECB executive board member says quantitative easing would not work well applied to Europe; stresses continued political commitment to banking union
Riksbank deputy Lars Svensson steps down
Riksbank’s ‘most committed dove’ will leave the central bank in May after failing to win the other members of the Executive Board round to a more expansionary monetary policy
Fed’s Raskin assesses impact of inequality on monetary policy
Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin says inequality in US could affect transmission of monetary policy to real economy; predicts ‘increasingly potent’ policy as house prices rise
G-20 unconcerned about Japanese monetary easing
Meeting of G-20 finance ministers spent ‘much less time’ discussing currency moves than at their last meeting; warns US and others to watch for bubbles
Emerging markets demand greater say in IMF affairs
G-24 group of emerging markets and developing countries urges IMF members to accept reforms to voting shares, pointing to 'serious flaws' in current formula
BoE lending figures add credence to FLS scepticism
Business lending continues to contract in the UK, but pressure still mounts on the ECB to take steps to address eurozone recession
Thai central bank and government divided over rates
Bank of Thailand has resisted cutting rates in 2013 in the face of a strongly appreciating baht; IMF director says currency reflects the country and region's rebalancing
RBI’s Subbarao weighs merits of new consensus on capital controls
Duvvuri Subbarao says financial crisis shattered consensus view that capital controls should not be used, but deploying them correctly is still far from straightforward
People: Iceland deputy handed second term; IMF appoints new statistics head
Arnór Sighvatsson gets second and final term at Central Bank of Iceland; Canadian ‘chief statistician' makes DC switch to head IMF stats office
Bolivian hyperinflation re-modelled using ‘Bayesian approach'
Paper from Latin American monetary studies centre takes new approach to modelling short-lived episodes of hyperinflation
Norges Bank governor backs plans for counter-cyclical capital buffer
Øystein Olsen gives support to proposals by the Norwegian government to introduce a counter-cyclical capital buffer; will be set by ministry of finance with advice from the Norges Bank
Netherlands Bank highlights ‘major risk’ of European crisis escalating
Financial stability report says danger from European debt crisis still looms large; warns of longer-term risks including addiction to low interest rates and incomplete banking union
Robert Pringle's Viewpoint: King’s efforts to be heard hit some marks
In his calls for reform, Bank of England governor Mervyn King has ploughed a lonely furrow. But some of his efforts are paying off
National Bank of Poland updates 18-year-old banknote security
Security features of Polish banknotes to be overhauled in 2014; central bank keeping tight-lipped on the upgrades
Kocherlakota warns of consequences of ‘mandate-consistent' lower rates
Minneapolis Fed president highlights risks accompanying persistent low rates, but argues rates must go lower still to be consistent with dual mandate