Eurozone
Adopting electronic retail payments boosts real economy, says ECB paper
Working paper says efficient electronic retail payment infrastructure boosts GDP, trade and consumption; integrating and harmonising different markets amplifies these effects
Hungarian paper breaks down components of finanical market indicators
Working paper presents a method for separating the global, regional and country-specific components in market indicators
CEE business cycles still out of sync with eurozone, Polish paper finds
Despite some convergence, differences remain - particularly when it comes to agents' intra- and inter-temporal choices, which account for a large proportion of output fluctuation in the CEE region
ECB paper says monetary transmission ‘far stronger’ in some eurozone countries than others
Interest rate changes have greater impact on bank lending in Germany and Italy than in countries with fewer commercial banks such as Spain and France
Eurozone core ‘regain net influence’ over bond markets, finds Irish paper
Technical paper examines spillovers in the eurozone’s sovereign debt markets; finds the impact of stressed countries on the wider region has diminished
Eurozone countries still react differently to monetary policy, paper finds
Bank of Italy researchers find response has become more homogenous, but differences remain in the reaction of prices and unemployment
Fiscal multiplier tends to double in times of crisis, Bank of Portugal paper shows
The paper analyses the size of short-run fiscal multipliers in both normal and crisis times
Finland economist provides euro crisis ‘view from the north'
Banking union will be key to avoiding a repeat of the eurozone sovereign debt crisis, writes Bank of Finland economist; dealing with the ‘legacy' of weak balance sheets is a ‘key open issue'
Bank of Finland paper attempts to isolate European fiscal multipliers
Research seeks to account for effects of policy co-ordination and business cycles to produce more accurate estimates of European fiscal multipliers
ECB research dissects European competitiveness
Working paper separates competitiveness into political and factor price-driven elements; uses new index to show divergent outcomes across Europe
EBA prepares for impact of single supervisory mechanism
Annual report for 2012 shows the European Banking Authority grew rapidly to meet the demands of a widening stability mandate, which will include working with the eurozone’s SSM
National Bank of Belgium urges care in use of credit conditions surveys
Analysis shows eurozone’s Bank Lending Survey and Belgium’s Survey on Credit Conditions contain useful information – but ‘crucially’ depend on model specification
ECB issues draft regulation on systemically important payment systems
Central bank seeks comment on draft regulations implementing CPSS-Iosco Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures, for systemically important payments systems in the eurozone
Lithuanian governor says banking union does not require treaty change
As Lithuania gears up to take over the EU rotating presidency, central bank governor Vasiliauskas is confident of reaching a compromise on banking union within the existing legal framework
IMF paper says direct eurozone spillovers limited to US and UK banks
Working paper analyses effects of eurozone crisis at bank level; finds direct impact limited to UK and US though other regions could be susceptible to knock-on effects
Latvia to adopt euro in 2014
European Commission gives Latvia the green light to become eighteenth eurozone member after it comfortably meets convergence criteria, but ECB voices concerns over price and financial stability
Bank of Israel’s outgoing chief, Stanley Fischer, on the challenges of central banking
Stanley Fischer believes his work as governor of the Bank of Israel is done. He tells Chris Jeffery about the reform process in Israel as well as the challenges facing the world economy and the IMF
Croatian governor cautious over banking union
Boris Vujčić says Croatia will adopt the euro "as soon as possible" after it joins the European Union next month; raises concerns over banking union and ECB’s lack of supervisory experience
Bank of Spain says slump reached ‘nadir’ in 2012
Annual report says recovery is in progress and should continue this year, but depends crucially on continued internal adjustments and the external setting
Bank of Greece report optimistic that banking sector has ‘weathered the storm’
Monetary policy report for 2012-13 says confidence is gradually returning as banks make repairs, deficits are reduced and the stabilisation programme remains ‘well on track’
ECB links ‘fragile’ financial stability to weak macroeconomy
Latest financial stability review says stress has ‘fallen markedly’ but vulnerabilities persist; ECB is most concerned about the impact of a further decline in bank profitability
Fed’s Bullard recommends QE for ECB's next move
St Louis Fed president and FOMC voter says quantitative easing has worked in the US and Japan, and could be made to work in Europe on a GDP-weighted basis
ECB’s head of financial stability says SSM is not enough
Ignazio Angeloni says banking union will be ‘decisive’ in restoring stability to the eurozone, but the single supervisory mechanism will not be sufficient on its own