Growth
Triple A rating “ours to lose”: King
Bank of England’s Mervyn King says downgrade unlikely given Britain’s strong track record and maturity of government bonds
Argentina surprises with new governor
Mercedes Marcó del Pont, the pro-government head of a state bank, is made governor of the Argentine central bank, commentators and markets in shock
Bank holds rates, halts asset purchases
Bank’s rate-setters stand pat, pointing to a clash of pressures between inflation and anaemic growth; ex-MPC members concur
Fed is best in crisis, says British think-tank
The Federal Reserve’s credit easing operations have fostered a quicker recovery than in the UK and eurozone, research finds
Bank of Canada – Monetary Policy Report January 2010
Bank of Canada’s Monetary Policy Report shows economic growth resumed in the third quarter of 2009
Former T&T governor blasts successor
Former governor of the Trinidad and Tobago central bank Winston Dookeran criticises current head Ewart Williams, saying his economic forecasts are out of touch
Shirakawa slams govt “misunderstanding”
Japanese central bank governor Masaaki Shirakawa defends policy actions and says calls for more monetary easing are fundamentally misguided
Monthly report (January) – Bank of Japan
Bank of Japan sees upward pressure on corporate goods prices, increases in exports and production
Joint fiscal stimulus does everyone good
Bank of Canada looks at the potential effect of the joint fiscal policy initiatives of the G20 in 2009 and 2010
Bank of Canada – Business Outlook Survey (winter 09/10)
Canadian firms expected both their costs and the prices they charged to increase over this year, signalling an end to the slump in demand
IMF more upbeat on growth
Global economy now set to expand by 3.9% this year, according to World Economic Outlook Update
Croatia to take caution in 2010: Rohatinski
Croatian National Bank’s Željko Rohatinski expects growth lull, shift in spending attitudes
Bank of Italy – Economic Bulletin January 2010
Bank of Italy – Economic Bulletin January 2010 Bank of Italy says recovery will be sluggish in 2010 and 2011
Korea holds amid concern over government influence
Bank of Korea leaves the cost of borrowing at 2% for 11th straight month; concern that presence of a minister at meetings will curtail independence
Leverage and productivity in emerging European economies
A Centre for Economic Policy Research paper published in December argues that while moderate leverage increases growth, excess leverage can dampen it
Bundesbank – Monthly report (Nov 2009)
German central bank’s monthly report documents the manufacturing-led recovery in global trade and stresses the need for fiscal consolidation in 2010
Inflation targeting insufficient: China’s Zhou
People’s Bank of China’s Zhou Xiaochuan says targeting low inflation alone is inadequate, particularly in light of the financial crisis
Massive debts will stunt growth: Reinhart and Rogoff
Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff say on current debt trends, growth rates are set to fall substantially in four years’ time
RBI’s Gokarn on maintaining India’s recovery
Reserve Bank of India’s Subir Gokarn charts drivers and threats to growth
BoJ partly to blame for lost decade: CEPR paper
CEPR looks at the contribution of the stock of money to the macroeconomic outcomes of the 1990s http://www.cepr.org/pubs/new-dps/dplist.asp?dpno=7608
China to maintain “moderately loose” policy
People’s Bank of China indicates rates will be kept low for some time to support growth and stability; statement echoes the pledges of central economic conference
Australia benefiting from Asian strength: Battellino
Reserve Bank of Australia deputy governor Ric Battellino says strong domestic demand in Asia has driven growth, and allowed the region to forge ahead of the North Atlantic in recovery
Growth determinants revisited
International Monetary Fund research returns to the issue of cross-country growth empirics debate using a novel model
Turkey gets sovereign debt, currency upgrades
Fitch Ratings raises Turkey’s long-term sovereign debt and currency ratings to BB+, taking them just outside investment grade