Interest rates
IMF research analyses Brazil's high interest rates
IMF research paper assesses high interest rates in Brazil; suggests country could move towards lower rates if domestic savings increase to levels found in other emerging markets
Raskin echoes Bernanke in discussing ‘modest’ recovery
Sarah Bloom Raskin talks about slow recovery compared to historical cycles and the impact of accommodative policy on savers
Bank of Canada working paper investigates market movers
New research looks into whether central bank communications or media reports impact markets more
Bank of Jamaica governor offers growth and inflation predictions
Brian Wynter predicts growth and inflation levels for fiscal year 2011-12; says unaltered monetary policy stance in last quarter was due to uncertainty both abroad and domestically
NY Fed paper discusses budget deficit impact on output
Federal Reserve Bank of New York staff paper finds running budget deficits can be either expansionary or contractionary for output, depending on how deficits interact with expectations about the long run
BoE sees strong possibility of inflation undershooting its target
Bank of England February Inflation Report shows inflation in UK is more likely to be below than above its 2% inflation target over the next three years
Lockhart admits Fed timescale for raising rates could change
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta president Dennis Lockhart says FOMC statement anticipating low federal funds rate levels until at least late 2014 was conditional on economic conditions
Parliamentary committee calls for Kenyan governor to resign
Parliamentary Select Committee finds governor's "conduct and behaviour incompatible with the holder of the office of governor of the Central Bank of Kenya"; calls for resignation
RBA surprises markets with rate hold
Reserve Bank of Australia policy board leaves cash rate unchanged despite market expectation of 25-basis point cut in rates due to weak external outlook
High borrowing costs discourage Eastern European firms from tapping banks, says ECB paper
European Central Bank study says many firms in Eastern Europe are put off by the high interest rates charged by foreign banks for a loan
Central Bank of Iceland paper highlights limitations of inflation indexed bonds
Central Bank of Iceland study shows inflation index-linked bonds in US, UK and Iceland are unreliable measures of the real interest rate
Fischer calls Israeli economy a ‘miracle’
Bank of Israel governor says peace deal is needed to achieve the growth and prosperity the country deserves; refuses to set timeline for returning interest rates to 'normal level'
Plosser bemoans 'confusion' over Fed communications
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia president Charles Plosser says decision to set time frame for when rates will remain exceptionally low had created confusion over Fed's policy statement
Colombia's Uribe explains why he is still raising rates
Central Bank of Colombia governor, José Darío Uribe, says rapid credit growth and inflation risks outweighed concerns about global economy; adds monetary tightening has worked elsewhere
Bangladesh Bank calls on government to borrow less
Bangladesh central bank wants to bring inflation to single digits and halt foreign currency reserve “depletion”; hopes government borrowing will not “crowd out” available liquidity in banking system
Thailand blames floods and ‘likely’ eurozone recession for rate cut
Bank of Thailand drops benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 3%; says recession now "likely" in the eurozone
Fed reveals design of new interest rate projections
Federal Reserve releases templates to be used in next Summary of Economic Projections (SEP) to project participants' views of the appropriate path for monetary policy
ECB and BoE join other countries in rates hold
European Central Bank and Bank of England join the National Bank of Poland and Bank Indonesia in leaving interest rates on hold; ECB president welcomes U-turn on Greece private sector involvement
IMF paper measures the natural rate of interest
Fund study says the transformed money demand and observed output gap provides the best information about the natural interest rate
Bank of Israel report highlights policy split on rate-setting body
Bank of Israel report of Narrow Forum discussion shows one member of monetary committee dissented against decision to hold rates, instead preferring a 25-basis-point cut
Albania approves monetary policy strategy for 2012-2014
Bank of Albania renews monetary policy strategy; offers clarifications and elaborations on previous versions of aims
BIS paper examines sustainability of pension schemes
Bank for International Settlements study sheds light on effects of global economic downturn on the design of occupational pension schemes
BIS paper warns of risks from long-term interest rate volatility
Bank for International Settlements study cautions against the use of long-term interest rates as a policy variable
Draghi explains extraordinary policy measures
ECB president sets out the reasons behind governing council’s decision to cut the benchmark interest rate and introduce three measures to support bank lending and liquidity in the eurozone