Consumer price index (CPI)
Zimbabwe central bank suspends senior officials over corruption allegations
Government appointee accuses central bankers of illegal foreign exchange dealings
Inflation expected to reach 10% in Malawi
Rising electricity, food and fuel prices forces inflation well beyond central bank target
‘Amazon effects’ impact pricing across economy – paper
Alberto Cavallo says online competition has changed pricing dynamics on- and offline
Bank of Uganda hikes rates for first time since 2015
Rising oil prices and exchange rate volatility prompt central bank action
Bank of England poised for hike despite weak data
Economists still expect a raise in interest rates when the MPC meets next week
Alternatives to Japan’s 2% flexible inflation target
The Bank of Japan may review its policy framework, given its five-year failure to hit a 2% flexible inflation target
Measuring Venezuela’s hyperinflation
Steve Hanke discusses how economists can make use of high-frequency exchange rate data to track rapid price movements in Venezuela
Solving the owner-occupied housing puzzle
A group of researchers has outlined what they see as a better method of integrating owner-occupied housing into the CPI, as the EU’s statistical agency wrestles with the problem
Higher inflation in the US pushes up yields
The headline consumer price index rose by 2.1% year on year
UK inflation refuses to budge from 3%
Despite a decline in oil price pressure, UK inflation remains above target; latest figures increase the likelihood of the Bank of England raising rates in May
Bank Negara makes first rate hike since 2014
Bank Negara Malaysia is the first South-east Asian central bank to hike rates this year
Bank Indonesia launches joint initiative as rice prices bite
Indonesian central bank and government announce joint measures to control inflation arising from food price volatility
Lower inflation brings relief for Argentina’s central bank
Central bank leaves interest rates on hold at 28.75%, as year-on-year inflation lowers to 22.5%
RBA cuts forecasts as inflation disappoints
The Reserve Bank of Australia expects to undershoot its inflation target for another year
Korea suffering from ‘missing inflation’ – deputy governor
Core inflation is still in the mid-1% range despite economic improvement
Swedish inflation above target, but tightening unlikely
The Scandinavian economy recorded a 4% year-on-year expansion in the second quarter of 2017, but a strong krona and the ECB’s loose policy stance make an immediate rate rise difficult
Brexit drives a wedge between BoE and markets
Market expectations of future UK interest rates appear out of line with views expressed by the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee. It comes at a time when Brexit ‘news’ often trumps economic data
Book notes: Fed Up, by Danielle diMartino Booth
A “fascinating but annoying” account by a US Federal Reserve insider who openly criticises the culture of the US central bank and policy decisions made by the institution leading up to and following the financial crisis
Riksbank proposes changes to inflation target
Central bank plans to use a variable that avoids short-term distortions, and to reinstate a band around the target
Forecasting would improve with more regular data, says RBNZ’s McDermott
New Zealand is one of two advanced economies that uses quarterly data instead of monthly; current schedule has limited forecast improvements, RBNZ assistant governor says
Peru cuts rates for first time in more than two years
Reversal in food prices prompts board into action, with inflation now expected to end the year within target band; central bank will remain attentive to external conditions
Should more attention be paid to house prices?
The Czech National Bank’s experiences offer insights into using a broader inflation measure with a greater weight on housing to address both monetary and macro-prudential policy requirements
Riksbank deputy open to scrapping CPI as target variable
Quirks of Swedish CPI make it awkward for use as the monetary policy target variable, Per Jansson says; bringing back tolerance band also a possibility
BoE paper extracts inflation expectations from market rates
Market rates are an imperfect measure of expected future inflation, say economists, who break them down into constituent parts, stripping out risk premia and the ‘wedge’ between RPI and CPI