Euro
Hans Tietmeyer, 1931-2016
Former Bundesbank president played key roles in German reunification, European single currency and reform of international financial regulation
African central banks have cut euro exposures, says Uganda’s Kavuma
Combination of negative interest rates and falling reserves hit euro holdings but most central banks still avoid investments within Africa
Czech Republic closer to euro adoption but still not ready – CNB
Economy is converging with Europe but costly accession to single supervisory mechanism means country is not ready to begin formal process, CNB says
Researcher uses dynamic factor model for ‘nowcasting’
Research makes three additions to widely-used model
Spanish paper looks at eurozone inflation expectations
Pan-eurozone factors are more important than country-specific forces, paper says
Eurozone reform projects are not delivering, French governor says
“Investment crunch” is biggest problem, not savings glut, Villeroy de Galhau says
Ignazio Visco on Italian banks and why the ECB should not be made a ‘scapegoat’ for EMU fatigue
The Bank of Italy governor speaks to Chris Jeffery about resolving Italy’s NPLs, Europe’s bail-in framework, the importance of QE and why the ECB needs to stop being made a ‘scapegoat’ for EMU fatigue
Serbian central bank report indicates slow progress on reversing ‘euroisation’
Most loans and deposits in the country are still denominated in foreign currency, National Bank of Serbia report shows
No ‘insidious’ German plan for EMU competitive advantage, says Issing
Otmar Issing says Germany didn't even have 'the economic intelligence' to design such a plan; country suffered years of high unemployment as others such as Italy failed to capitalise on price stability
Euro architect says ECB has ‘destroyed’ market discipline in Europe
Otmar Issing, the man who designed the operational framework for the euro, says failures by European politicians and the ECB mean “all the elements” are in place to bring “disaster” to the monetary union
Mervyn King on Brexit, crisis supervision, economic rebalancing and reforming the IMF
The former Bank of England governor discusses Brexit, radical regulatory reform, the difficulties rebalancing the European and global economies and an overhaul of the International Monetary Fund
Book notes: The euro and the battle of ideas, by Markus K Brunnermeier, Harold James and Jean-Pierre Landau
The authors have produced a fascinating and informative book that offers suggestions on how differences in beliefs can be overcome
Money market interactions can explain behaviour of interest rate spreads, researchers argue
Paper analyses the interplay of unsecured and collateralised money markets; information obtained “can explain behaviour of interest rate spreads”, authors say
Co-operation: The competitive edge against counterfeiting
A collaborative approach to banknote projects with trustworthy partners frees up time and resources, pools and mitigates risk, and helps to fulfil the most demanding expectations from stakeholders and the public. Most importantly, it decisively stiffens…
ECB data reveals changes in eurozone wage rigidity
ECB publishes its third survey of wage dynamics in the eurozone; it argues data is “crucial” to designing monetary and other macroeconomic policies
IMF changes method for calculating SDR currency amounts
IMF will switch to new SDR basket in October, including renminbi for the first time; calculation will use new rounding methodology aimed at minimising deviation from weightings
ECB publishes guide to its macroeconomic projections
European Central Bank publishes guide to how its staff research and publish their regular projections for the eurozone economy; gives details of models and tools used
Dombret warns clearing and securities depository business may leave London
Bundesbank’s Andreas Dombret said London’s pull as a venue for euro trading would “shrivel” if the UK voted to leave the EU; warned EBA would need to find “new home”
ECB bulletin article criticises EU fiscal arrangements
The eurozone's fiscal arrangements are "vague", article in the ECB’s latest economic bulletin says; criticises Commission's proposed fiscal metrics and calls for single eurozone treasury
Prospective eurozone members fail to meet convergence criteria, ECB says
Seven prospective member countries show greater convergence in their economic indicators but fail to meet requirements for their legal frameworks, ECB report says
Antti Heinonen says cash is still relevant in modern society
Former ECB head of banknotes says cash is still evolving to keep pace with new payments technology, and banknote designs are staying ahead of counterfeiters
Banks’ debt maturity needs extension – but not too much, paper argues
Eurozone banks’ debt securities need slightly longer maturity periods, but extensions envisaged under Basel III may be excessive, a Bank of Italy paper argues
SBP’s Aziz sees renminbi gaining ground in global reserves
Pakistan’s reserves head sees potential for Chinese renminbi to muscle in on the euro and yen’s territory in global reserves, on account of negative interest rates
Lower real interest rates may harm productivity growth, researchers say
Lower real interest rates may reduce productivity growth rates, researchers say; Italy and Spain have suffered low or negative TFP growth during existence of euro