Central Banks
Finland joins Riksbank in greater gold transparency
Bank of Finland joins Riksbank in revealing where it stores its gold; both banks cite geographical diversification as a motivation, but say it still makes sense to keep most in London
Swiss researchers sceptical about advanced settlement algorithms
SNB working paper says overhauling the algorithms used in the Swiss Interbank Clearing system would produce an ‘economically irrelevant’ reduction in settlement delay and ‘low’ cost savings
Researchers compare South African capital markets with international counterparts
South African Reserve Bank working paper examines how the country’s equity, currency, bond and derivatives markets in South Africa have developed and how they compare with others
Portugal governor: banks are stronger now than pre-crisis
Bank of Portugal's Carlos da Silva Costa argues stringent capital requirements 'well above the EU 8% benchmark' are starting to pay off; banks' average loan-to-deposit ratio was 123% in June
Central bankers divided over quota for female staff
Participants in a CentralBanking.com poll say that central banks should make efforts to increase the proportion of women in senior positions; split over whether this should be achieved through quota
Bank of Spain's Linde touts comeback of local banks
Governor says lenders' solvency position has improved noticeably from a year ago; highlights 'drastic reduction' in toxic assets on banks' balance sheet
GCC states need to jettison ‘destabilising' US-dollar pegs, says Qatar's Al Khater
Oil-rich Gulf states should peg currencies to crawling trade-weighted baskets as US demand becomes less of a factor in driving oil prices, says Qatari central banker
Hungarian easing shows no sign of abating
Central Bank of Hungary reduces its key policy rate for the fifteenth time in as many months, and says ‘further cautious easing’ could follow
RBI paper finds Indian banks were not spared by financial crisis
Working paper says that despite the global financial crisis being concentrated in advanced economies, weaker Indian banks saw their margins ‘impaired significantly’
ECB seeks head lawyer who is ‘resilient to overwork’
Employment law expert says the European Central Bank’s criterion for its next director-general of legal services is a 'concerning pre-condition to employment'
SNB paper tests shock response on individual sectors
Researchers apply dynamic factor model to Swiss economy to examine impact of monetary policy, exchange rates and external demand on different sectors
Flug calls for inclusive Israeli labour market
Next Bank of Israel governor Karnit Flug says integrating Arab population into Israeli economy will counteract expected decline in working age population and subsequent drop in growth rates
IMF director delivers verdict on Abenomics one year on
Anoop Singh says Japanese prime minister’s stimulus plan has helped put Japan ‘at the centre of the global economic map’; tells Japan not to squander the opportunity
Slovene bank clean-up provides stress test dry run for ECB
IMF urges country to recapitalise banks quickly; academics see country as 'methodology experiment' for ECB, and warn comparisons with Greece and Cyprus could be self-fulfilling prophecies
RBA's Stevens says exchange rate disconnected from fundamentals
RBA governor Glenn Stevens says Australia's current exchange rate is not supported by the country's relative levels of costs and productivity
ECB's Cœuré urges eurozone to take lessons from Asia
Executive board member says governments' response to the Asian financial crisis, including overhaul of domestic financial sectors, made for painful adjustment but swift recovery
Riksbank reveals location of gold holdings
Three-quarters of the Swedish central bank's gold reserves are held in the UK and Canada; disclosure follows discussions with other central banks on confidentiality
Gunmen steal $53m from Central Bank of Libya
Armed men overpower guards and steal millions of dollars from cash truck en route to central bank in Sirte
Danish central bank to cut workforce by 10%
National Bank of Denmark to lay off 55 employees as it adjusts to post-crisis environment and introduces new IT system that makes some jobs obsolete
Curaçao governor ‘baffled’ by bond market reluctance
Emsley Tromp extols the value of innovation in monetary policy, and expresses his bemusement at the region’s apprehension over the creation of a corporate bond market
RBI takes hawkish stance against inflation with another rate hike
Repo rate hike and MSF rate cut bring spread back to its normal level of 100 basis points; ‘material' risk of entrenched inflation could mean another hike is on the way, says DBS economist