Interest rates
Wages no bar to Fed pause after move tomorrow
There's no reason for Federal Reserve officials to stop thinking about a pause in raising interest rates after going to 5 percent when they meet tomorrow (Wednesday), according to this article published Tuesday 9 May.
Bank of Israel publishes minutes
The Bank of Israel said on Monday 8 May it will publish the minutes of meetings in which interest rates are fixed each month from now on.
SNB's Blattner says rates will rise 'gradually'
Swiss National Bank vice-president Niklaus Blattner said on Friday 5 May that Swiss interest rates would continue to rise "gradually" to ensure longer term price stability.
Comment: Unravelling the RBA hike
The Reserve Bank of Australia has joined the world's leading central banks in tightening mode. Last week's rate rise was largely unexpected and opinion is split over how far the central bank will go in hiking rates this year.
China needs more Volcker and less Greenspan
According to this article published Monday 1 May, China's recent increase in interest rates may have the opposite effect to what was intended. The move may boost the economy, instead of slowing it, it says.
Comment: Trichet sounds his warning
After having made it clear that an interest rate increase was highly unlikely, the ECB's monetary policy meeting this week was all about how to signal future rate hikes pencilled in for later this year. Jean-Claude Trichet's message yesterday, 3 May, was…
Information & interest rate-setting central banks
The Working Paper "How much information should interest rate-setting central banks reveal?" extends Morris and Shin's model to the case where the central bank must anyway convey some information by setting the interest rate.
ECB signals June rate rise
At the ECB's post-meeting press conference, after holding eurozone interest rates unchanged, on Thursday 4 May Jean-Claude Trichet said the Governing Council will exercise strong vigilance in order to ensure that risks to price stability over the medium…
RBA raises interest rates 0.25%
The Reserve Bank of Australia raised interest rates to a 5-year high of 5.75% on Wednesday 3 May. "The Board judged at its May meeting that inflationary risks had increased sufficiently to warrant an increase in the cash rate," RBA governor Ian…
Too early to declare end of deflation - Koizumi
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told reporters on Tuesday 2 May that it's too early to declare an end to deflation in Japan.
Fed's pause may send Asian currencies higher
With Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke signalling a pause in U.S. interest-rate increases, the spotlight is once again on Asia, according to this article published on Tuesday 2 May.
ECB paper on interest rates and exchange rates
The ECB Working Paper "How does information affect the comovement between interest rates and exchange rates?" compares the link between exchange rates and interest rates under full information and two alternative asymmetric information approaches.
Markets misunderstand testimony says Bernanke
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke believes that the media and the markets have misinterpreted his words last week as a signal that the Fed would stop after one more rate hike, according to CNBC anchor Maria Bartiromo on Monday 1 May.
China's economy 'overheating a little bit'
People's Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan said on Friday 28 April that the increase in the official Chinese benchmark lending rate is intended to rein in growth as the economy is "overheating a little bit".
ECB's Garganas says more rate hikes possible
European Central Bank Governing Council member Nicholas Garganas said on Thursday 27 April that more interest rate rises are probably on the way, with the timing dependant on economic growth and inflation developments.
RBNZ leaves OCR unchanged at 7.25 per cent
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand announced on Thursday 27 April that the Official Cash Rate (OCR) will remain at 7.25 per cent.
China surprises with interest rate rise
The People's Bank of China raised its benchmark interest rate on Thursday 27 April in an unexpected move.
Bank of Canada raises interest rates
The Bank of Canada on Tuesday 25 April announced that it is raising its target for the overnight rate by one-quarter of one percentage point to 4 per cent.
ECB talk of normalising rates confirms slow pace
This article published on Monday 24 April suggests that a recent shift in ECB rhetoric to talk of normalising interest rates appears to confirm that the central bank has in mind a slow and steady course of rate hikes.
Issing: Inflation forecasts may rise with oil
European Central Bank chief economist Otmar Issing said in an interview that the ECB may have to revise its inflation forecasts upwards after the latest increase in oil prices.
BoJ's Muto says rate shift depends on data
Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Toshiro Muto said Thursday 20 April that the central bank will decide on when to end its zero rate policy by analysing various economic data.
FOMC minutes suggest end to rate rises
According to the minutes of the Federal Reserve's meeting on 27-28 March released on Tuesday 18 April, policy-makers felt that the U.S. central bank was nearly finished raising interest rates, but remained worried about potential inflation risks.
Bank of England voted 7-1 to hold rates
Minutes released on Wednesday 19 April showed that the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted 7 to 1 at its meeting on April 6 to keep interest rates unchanged at 4.5 per cent.
Fed comments and data point to one more increase
According to this article published on Tuesday 18 April, recent comments from Federal Reserve officials and the latest economic data continue to suggest that the cycle of US interest rate increases will come to an end next month.