US dollar
Justin Lin: Multiple reserve currency system ‘less stable' than one based on dollar
Former World Bank chief economist tells Central Banking Journal competing reserve currencies would not address overriding challenge of global monetary system
Venezuela fleshes out details of new floating exchange rate
Venezuela’s central bank will introduce a new free-float exchange rate, allowing people and companies to freely buy and sell dollars; economists say it will lead to depreciation
National Bank of Angola to ‘coerce’ banks into parting with their dollars
Angola’s central bank will intervene when banks deny dollars to their customers, in the face of a shortage of foreign currency due to plunging oil prices
State Bank of Vietnam devalues dong as dollar rises
Vietnam’s central bank devalues the dong by 1% against the dollar, in a move to create ‘sustainable stability’ in the forex market
Peru adopts measures to reduce credit dollarisation
Peru’s central bank lowers the reserve requirement for local currency loans to 9% as part of a suite of measures aimed at boosting financial stability
Central Bank of Brazil extends swap auctions
Brazil’s central bank will continue to hold daily foreign-exchange swap auctions until March, but has reduced the amount on offer from $200 million to $100 million a day
Bank of Mexico sells dollars to stop peso decline
Bank of Mexico will buy up to $200 million worth of pesos a day, after a currency depreciation that it fears could boost inflation and push the central bank into an interest rate hike
Bank for International Settlements sees danger lurking beneath exuberant markets
Recent rapid 'flip-flopping' by markets from risk-on to risk-off and back reveals fragility hidden beneath buoyant asset prices, and central bank interventions may make the problem worse
Argentine governor says peso becoming more predictable
Central Bank of Argentina governor Alejandro Vanoli believes the peso is becoming more predictable due to his efforts to control the exchange illegal market
The shift to a multi-polar world
Extraterritorial reach of US policies could hasten the use of alternative currencies; decision on renminbi inclusion in SDR may be a tipping point for relevance of Bretton Woods institutions
Argentina enjoys a rare period of ‘currency peace’
Peso sees a recovery in the black market after the central bank cracks down; economists suggest a boost in dollar reserves is the main reason for the appreciation
Dollar and renminbi can coexist as global currencies, Eichengreen says
Bank of Korea paper finds that ‘networks are open and several international currencies can coexist’, suggesting the dollar and the renminbi will share the role in the future
Bank of Russia FX intervention hits $6bn
Governor Elvira Nabiullina says central bank will move ahead with switch to inflation-targeting regime as currency falls to record low
Argentina’s central bank governor quits after Presidential criticism
Juan Carlos Fábrega resigns after Argentina’s president accuses the central bank of giving ‘confidential information’ to banks
End of Bretton Woods has helped dollar reserves, says ECB paper
The collapse of the Bretton Woods System has resulted in significant upheaval of currency reserve trends, says an ECB working paper co-authored by Barry Eichengreen
Book notes: The Dollar Trap, by Eswar S Prasad
A lively and compelling analysis on currency wars in the wake of the financial crisis – and the likely persistence of the US dollar as the world’s pre-eminent currency
Renminbi as a reserve currency
China’s renminbi is gaining traction as a global currency, which will pave the way for a multiple global reserve currency system. Discussed here by John Zhu, economist, Greater China, HSBC
ECB sees no clear rival to US dollar as global currency
ECB article says a ‘multi-polar’ system with ‘several international currencies playing consequential roles’ is a more likely outcome than an out-and-out replacement for the dollar
Questions mount over Bank of Ghana's involvement in airlift of $3m football bonus
Experts say central bank must have been aware of $3m government operation that breached forex controls imposed by the bank in February
Omani central bank chief still committed to dollar peg
Central Bank of Oman's Hamood Sangour Al Zadjali tells Central Banking journal the peg still offers 'substantial benefits' given Oman's economic structure
Central Bank of Oman's Hamood Sangour Al Zadjali on the dollar, financial stability and Islamic finance
The Central Bank of Oman remains committed to the dollar as it moves to improve governance, liquidity management and Islamic finance in the sultanate, its executive president tells Chris Jeffery
Fed 'policy shocks' cause both dollar and foreign interest rates to fall, Boston Fed paper finds
Expansionary monetary policy shocks by the Federal Reserve leads to dollar depreciation, while similar 'unexpected expansionary announcements' by foreign central banks cause it to appreciate
Major central banks phase out dollar liquidity operations
ECB, BoE, BoJ and SNB will start scaling back the amount of dollar liquidity they offer to market participants in April in response to waning demand
Central Bank of Turkey sells $2.5bn in attempt to halt lira freefall
Central bank buys local currency for an estimated $2.5 billion in one day, upping stakes on strategy that has seen it spend one-third of net reserves since June