Exchange rate
FSB urges central banks to ‘take note’ of Iosco FX benchmark principles
Final report on FX rate benchmarks encourages central banks to heed Iosco recommendations; suggests changes to benchmark methodology to improve incentives
Central Bank of Turkey quadruples amount of forex on offer in daily auctions
Lira's ‘heightened volatility' follows bank's decision yesterday to hold interest rates steady; pressure on forex the result of geopolitical risk, says analyst
Wheeler says NZ dollar strength is ‘unjustified and unsustainable’
Central bank governor outlines cost of high exchange rate but says NZ dollar is ‘susceptible to a significant downward adjustment over the coming six to nine months’
Zambia’s Gondwe lauds interventions to support kwacha
Michael Gondwe declares success in Bank of Zambia’s use of monetary policy to shore up a sliding kwacha; says central bank now in a position to loosen tight liquidity conditions
Canada governor says ‘manipulating markets not in our game plan'
Stephen Poloz says attempts to influence exchange rate, including via ‘verbal guidance', would ‘do more harm than good'
Uzbek central bank launches mobile app to meet ‘growing needs’ of online audience
Users can view specimens of banknotes and coins and check the latest exchange rates; central bank expects it to be ‘popular’ among 3,000 people who visit website each day
Argentina’s central bank lowers cap on commercial bank dollar holdings
The objective is to improve the ‘market conditions’ of the economy, says a central bank official, but Steve Hanke argues it is a measure to prevent the dollarisation of the country
IMF deems Czech exchange rate floor appropriate ‘for now’
Latest staff report commends CNB’s decision to intervene in foreign exchange market; supports the floor but says it should be removed ‘as soon as conditions allow’
IMF paper finds ‘robust' relationship between exchange rate flexibility and external adjustment
Using a data set of bilateral exchange rate regimes, study revives Milton Friedman's argument that a flexible rate facilitates external adjustment
Ghana requests IMF bailout to bridge fiscal deficit
IMF deputy director will send a team to Accra early next month to initiate discussions; Ghanaian cedi is world's worst performer so far this year
Choosing a suitable exchange rate suitable for price-takers
Flexible exchange rates can act as an asset price as well as a price for goods and services, so movements can distort the market for goods and services. Taxing capital inflows can address the matter
Raghuram Rajan on the dangers of asset prices, policy spillovers and finance in India
Raghuram Rajan, governor of the Reserve Bank of India, speaks about the challenges facing emerging market central banks, spillovers and getting to know India’s new prime minister Narendra Modi.
HKMA chief rejects use of $400bn fund for social purposes
Norman Chan says the HKMA’s exchange fund is the ‘last line of defence’ for financial stability and should be maintained as a buffer against ‘unforeseeable shocks and crises’
Richard Cooper calls for monetary policy co-ordination to smooth global exchange rates
Harvard professor proposes internationally-agreed targets and gradual capital controls to mitigate worst effects of fluctuating exchange rates
Price competitiveness strong in the US but weak in China, Bundesbank paper finds
Proposes ‘simple productivity approach-based' method for calculating a ‘consistent set of multilateral indicators' of price competitiveness
Chinese banks freed to set own RMB-dollar exchange rate
Chinese authorities hand banks freedom to set their own dollar exchange rates; central bank also widens renminbi trading band
Hungarian economists take on ‘delayed overshoot' puzzle
Central Bank of Hungary economists examine the effect of carry trade activity on exchange rate dynamics, finding it does not explain delayed overshoot
Exchange rate losing significance in Asian monetary policy, BIS paper argues
Bank for International Settlements working paper argues sterilised intervention in currency markets is becoming less effective as Asia's economies trade more freely with each other
Norges Bank poised to complete shift from FX buyer to seller before year's end
The Norwegian central bank sends strong signal it will make no foreign exchange purchases this year; analysts predict bank will make ‘symbolic shift' to net-seller in Q4
Central Bank of Kenya backs up talk with currency intervention
Senior trader at I&M Bank explains how forex interventions have kept the exchange rate on an even keel; central bank issues statement to reinforce control of situation
Central American central bank losses smallest in 25 years
However, capital positions remain weak and would even be negative if claims on governments were valued according to cashflow, IMF study finds
Korean research analyses transmission of exchange rate movements to domestic prices
Korean working paper finds imported inputs play ‘major role’ in transmitting exchange rate fluctuations to the domestic price level
Exchange rate depreciation is of limited benefit to small, open economies, says Barbados governor
Central Bank of Barbados's DeLisle Worrell says small, open economies face forex constraint that frames economic policies and cannot be alleviated by fall in real exchange rate
Offshore renminbi has increasing impact on Asian exchange rates
How long the independent impact will last will likely depend on China's progress in liberalising its capital account, according to working paper from the Bank for International Settlements