Reserves
Lithuania bought 1.6 tonnes of gold as part of euro switch
Purchases representing around 25% of total gold holdings made during switch to euro; Bank of Lithuania investment director tells Central Banking investments are now more diverse
Nigerian reserves head believes renminbi can ‘complement’ euro and dollar
Lamido Yuguda discusses the benefits of a multipolar system and how the Central Bank of Nigeria is managing its renminbi investments in a new book
Global FX reserves down, dollar allocations up
Valuation effects push US dollar portion of allocated reserves higher while euro slips
SNB plans renminbi purchases in 2015
Central bank plans to add renminbi bonds to reserves after signing swap agreement with the People’s Bank of China in 2014; annual report reveals return of 8% across currency reserves
Bascand says RBNZ more alert to risks
Deputy governor says new risk management framework has improved central bank’s ability to deal with risk; discusses reserves management policy and ‘open relationship’ with government
PBoC governor hints at capital account liberalisation this year
Zhou Xiaochuan says it will be ‘more convenient not only for enterprises but also for individuals at home and abroad to invest' during panel discussion with IMF's Lagarde in Beijing
Danish annual report highlights move into equities
National Bank of Denmark implemented new investment strategy in 2014, adding riskier assets including equities and lower-rated government bonds to reserves
Nalm Europe: Scope for improved risk modelling, says RBNZ’s Bascand
Central bank has already gone some way towards revamping its financial management but there is ‘scope to improve further’, deputy governor tells Central Banking conference in London
Hryvnia back from brink despite central bank U-turn
Central bank manages to stem Ukrainian currency’s free-fall despite adding to market chaos with volte-face on foreign exchange controls; two failed banks enter liquidation
Central Bank of Nigeria abandons FX window
Latest attempt to halt the sliding currency sees central bank cease to offer foreign exchange auctions, but interventions continue in the interbank market
Central Asian currencies under threat as Azerbaijan abandons peg
The Central Bank of Azerbaijan’s decision to drop its dollar peg and move to target a basket could have knock-on effects throughout the region, where currencies are already under pressure
The RMB and the SDR review 2015
Yide Qiao and Jiafei Ge present a case for the renminbi joining the ranks of the US dollar, euro, sterling and yen in the IMF’s SDR basket, when the constituents are reviewed later this year
Justin Lin: Multiple reserve currency system ‘less stable' than one based on dollar
Former World Bank chief economist tells Central Banking Journal competing reserve currencies would not address overriding challenge of global monetary system
Central Bank of Argentina promises to allow importers access to dollars
After three days of refusing all requests for dollars from domestic companies looking to finance imports, the Central Bank of Argentina promises to start gradually opening the tap
National Bank of Angola to ‘coerce’ banks into parting with their dollars
Angola’s central bank will intervene when banks deny dollars to their customers, in the face of a shortage of foreign currency due to plunging oil prices
Renminbi cracks top-five payment currencies
Share of the renminbi in global payments increases to 2.17% in December, Swift data shows, pushing it above the Canadian and Australian dollars, and into the top five
Attack on Central Bank of Libya condemned by UN
United Nations criticises ‘armed attack’ of a central bank branch; institution is caught in the middle of a power struggle between two rival ‘governments’
Central Bank of Argentina uses PBoC swap agreement for external financing
With Argentina suffering a default in July and without access to markets, its central bank is drawing on a swap agreement with the PBoC to bolster its reserves
Reserve managers shun the euro, IMF data shows
International Monetary Fund data from the third quarter of 2014 shows a significant hit to euro reserves following negative interest rates
Russian central bank 'prepares' to recapitalise banks
Central bank announces package of measures to safeguard credit institutions from currency crisis fallout; finance ministry reportedly sells own foreign exchange
Bosnia central bank suspends nine after $380,000 theft from vaults
Prosecutor’s Office detains a central bank ‘clerk’ in connection with offence; money was supposedly taken in three chunks between 2012 and 2014
IMF paper suggests Peruvian forex interventions are asymmetric
The Central Bank of Peru has tended to react differently in the face of appreciation and depreciation pressures, research finds
Argentina’s central bank denies being an ‘alter ego’ of the government
Central Bank of Argentina lawyers look to dismiss a complaint from the holdout funds in New York, rejecting the notion the institution is an ‘alter ego’ of the Argentine government
Swiss public reject gold initiative
Referendum sees 77.3% of vote against forcing the SNB to hold 20% of its assets in gold, and prevent it from ever selling them; central bank welcomes the result