Monetary policy
Eurozone needs fiscal stimulus – ECB’s Schnabel
ECB board member says raising eurozone inflation needs fiscal evolution and structural reform
Rich countries must aid poor over Covid-19: Georgieva
IMF chief warns of future financial instability and calls for major aid flows to developing world
Book notes: Capital and ideology, by Thomas Piketty
A political pamphlet like Milton’s ‘Areopagitica’, but longer
Powell: US economy still ‘a long way’ from meeting Fed goals
Fed chair predicts continued need for low interest rates and QE, as recovery remains “uneven and far from complete”
New Zealand’s banking system operationally ready for negative rates
Central bank will lower rates below zero lower bound if required, MPC says
Monetary innovation required to respond to next crisis – Riksbank’s Breman
Deputy governor thinks fiscal and monetary policy co-ordination will be increasingly important
Zimbabwe’s government replaces central bank MPC
Finance minister changes entire MPC as academic observer dismisses inflation target as “fantasy”
Adding QE can fix New Keynesian models – BoE paper
“Mild adjustments” to balance sheet are enough to avoid paradoxical results, authors find
Norges Bank’s policy space ‘almost exhausted’ – governor
Norwegian governor warns public spending is increasingly dependent on sovereign wealth fund
ECB profit falls by 30% in 2020
Decrease is mainly due to lower Treasury yields reducing income on dollar portfolio
SNB should adopt higher inflation target, report says
Senior economists recommend the Swiss National Bank reviews its policy strategy
Bank Indonesia resumes monetary easing
Central bank commits to further government bond purchases on the primary market
Book notes: Asset management at central banks and monetary authorities, edited by Jacob Bjorheim
This excellent book fills a critical gap existing since IMF guidelines on asset management were revised
Inflation climbs in UK and Canada
Headline figures increased year on year by 0.7% in the UK and 1% in Canada
Kenya strikes deal on $2.4 billion IMF package
“Multi-year effort” required to stabilise public finances and boost growth
Bank of Zambia caught between surging inflation and debt crisis
Central bank hikes policy rate as kwacha falls and fiscal spending overshoots targets
ECCB persuades states to relax fiscal stance
IMF supports move to deal with pandemic’s effects, warning against “drastic fiscal consolidation”
The Covid crisis, central banks and the future
Crisis responses have had positive initial outcomes, but also exacerbated significant underlying challenges that raise concerns related to exit strategies and the future for central banks
French governor calls for ECB to make radical carbon shift
ECB is not sufficiently accounting for exposure to climate risk, says Villeroy de Galhau
The changing data landscape: Part 2
Central Banking speaks to Philip Abradu-Otoo, Juan José Ospina and Howard Chang about whether there is a need to change underlying infrastructure to bolster data-driven policy-making
Brazilian congress passes central bank autonomy law
Law gives CBB autonomy and sets renewable four-year terms for governor and MPC members
Bank efficiency has little effect on Chinese monetary policy – Finnish paper
Chinese banks with very high or low loan-to-deposit ratios are most affected, researchers find
Riksbank revises up growth and inflation forecasts for 2021
Swedish central bank maintains stimulus; inflation not expected to approach target until 2023
Measuring the exceptional speed and scope of Covid-19 monetary policy
Policy actions during the first wave of the pandemic were extraordinary for their intensity, scope and speed. Other patterns also emerge on closer inspection