Central Banks
Riksbank holds rates as IMF sees ‘sizeable' risks at Swedish banks
Interest rates held at 1% as Swedish central bank attempts to support growth without adding to household debt stock; IMF Article IV report frets over large and vulnerable financial system
BIS economists find Fed's QE helps curb tail risk perception
Paper published today finds the effect of the Fed's announcing unconventional monetary policy measures is strongest when used in conjunction with forward guidance on low interest rates
BoE and BoJ shun further easing as economic activity picks up
Both the Bank of England and Bank of Japan keep their interest rates and asset purchases unchanged as their respective recoveries work up a head of steam
NY Fed staff say effect of policy changes depend on risk environment
New staff report argues that macro policy announcements affect asset prices to different extents depending on the existing economic outlook; when risk is elevated, the impact is reduced
Haldane says central banks have ‘further to go’ to improve communication
Bank of England executive director Andrew Haldane says policy-makers are still searching for a language that resonates with the general public
Central banks are getting more transparent, study finds
Study conducted by Barry Eichengreen and Nergiz Dincer finds trend towards greater transparency was not knocked off course by the financial crisis; independence, however, is more patchy
RBI's Rajan sets out vision for ‘inclusive development'
India's new central bank governor hits the ground running, outlining several concrete policy measures ranging from a short-term forex swap window to national savings instruments
IMF paper considers impact of China’s capital account liberalisation
Researchers suggest that reduced capital control will likely lead to net outflows from equity and bond markets as domestic investors look to diversify
New York Fed paper wary of higher inflation targets
Staff report finds that pursuing a higher trend rate of inflation would likely create a ‘more volatile and unstable’ economy and unseat inflation expectations
European Commission launches shadow banking onslaught
Commission looks to impose more stringent liquidity and capital requirements on money market funds; industry body hits out at 'ill-considered' proposals
Weidmann slams Europe's stability pact relaxation
Exceptions made for four members of the eurozone earlier this year were inappropriate, Bundesbank president says; making the rules more binding is the only way to stronger monetary union
Bank of Finland deputy calls on Denmark and Sweden to join the SSM
Pentti Hakkarainen says a strong Nordic dimension in the European banking union would benefit all countries involved; Sweden focused on domestic supervision for time being
BIS papers study effects of monetary and fiscal policy shocks
Researchers find fiscal shocks within the eurozone lead to a real exchange rate appreciation through inflation differential; monetary policy shocks have minor impact on commodity prices
East African central banks take different approaches to rising inflation
Bank of Uganda hikes key rate by 100bp to 12% as food shortages push crop prices up by 16% in August; Central Bank of Kenya dismisses own inflationary pressures and holds rates
ECB's Cœuré defends OMTs in Berlin speech
Executive board member tells German audience that OMTs do not remove the incentive from governments to reform, and says risk transfer within the monetary union is unavoidable anyway
German voters want to keep the euro - but not to save it, poll finds
Two-thirds do not believe the next chancellor has mandate to support eurozone countries financially after the September 22 elections; a third supports break up of eurozone and return to deutschmark
RBA quiet on further easing as it holds rates
Reserve Bank of Australia holds its key policy rate at 2.5% and omits earlier guidance on the prospect of an additional rate cut from accompanying statement
Financial contagion function of reputation rather than size of banks
Bank clustering and large in-coming interbank loan more important than leverage ratios, while central bank intervention reduce contagion only slightly, Bank of Finland discussion paper finds
Ireland economists construct new business-cycle indicator
Economic letter published by Central Bank of Ireland presents an indicator to provide policy-makers with ‘real-time’ signals; index has declined in recent months as domestic demand remains weak
German banks move to lower-risk sovereign bonds
Deutsche Bundesbank discussion paper investigates banks exposures to sovereign debt and finds they are increasingly investing in bonds from larger countries with lower inflation
Net lending to UK businesses still negative, BoE data shows
Second quarter figures for the UK's Funding for Lending scheme shows credit creation remains subdued; Bank of England attributes weak performance to alternative funding sources
Segmented structure of Russian interbank market leads to volatile interest rates
Liquidity-absorbing and liquidity-provision operations are conducted by the biggest banks, reducing credit risk but also restraining market development, according to Bank of Finland discussion paper
Polish paper presents new method for constructing fan charts
Fan charts are an increasingly popular tool for depicting forecasts; working paper proposes a new method for formulating the charts that incorporates 'a mix of judgment and statistics'