Central Banks
Bank of Spain charts economy’s downward acceleration
Data for fourth quarter show economy continuing to spiral downward, with contractions in growth and demand gaining pace
Mauritian governor demands faster financial market expansion
Rundheersing Bheenick disappointed by slow bond market development; says central bank and others must increase efforts
Mervyn King makes final ‘regional' speech as BoE governor
King provides diagnosis, prescription and prognosis for the UK economy, and expresses fears over currency wars
Bundesbank president staunchly defends independence
Jens Weidmann speaks out against the increasing politicisation and expansion of central bank mandates
Nigerian central bank tells government to act on oil
Monetary Policy Committee cautions government against ‘complacency’ in tax revenue collection and says swift action is needed to support the struggling oil industry
Gold is no inflation hedge, says RBI deputy
Kamalesh Chandra Chakrabarty disputes status of gold as a safe asset or hedge against inflation, arguing that as the gold price increases, so do risks
Belgian paper finds Fed policy influenced by Taylor rule
Working paper presents evidence that Federal Reserve policy-makers are influenced by the Taylor rule when making monetary policy decisions
Fears over BoJ independence as central bank bows to government
Commentators express concerns over the Bank of Japan’s independence as the central bank introduces 2% inflation target and open-ended asset purchases
Irish deputy lays out arguments for banking union and SSM
Gerlach says while monetary policy and bank supervisory bodies should be separate, siting them together can bring benefits
ECB's Benoit Cœuré calls for sweeping structural reform of eurozone economies
Cœuré says monetary policy 'no substitute' for structural shifts in the economy, in order to maintain Europe's social contract
Thai governor wary of prolonged easing
Prasarn Trairatvorakul says Bank of Thailand must be aware of the risks continued monetary accommodation poses to financial stability; also targets greater payments efficiency in 2013
BoE's Haldane says UK could redefine global banking rules
Andrew Haldane says UK is in a position to ‘lead with the front foot' on fixing the shortcomings of Basel III, tightening remuneration policies and removing barriers to bank account switching
Iran parliament votes to investigate central bank
Iranian central bank governor reportedly dismissed by Supreme Court over illegal withdrawals from the banking system; investigation to look into conduct in forex market and 'other issues'
Stricter governance standards proposed in Cayman Islands
Cayman Islands Monetary Authority hopes to create a database with basic details on every financial institution it regulates; directors seeking to sit on six or more boards will be scrutinised
PBoC launches short-term liquidity operations
China’s central bank now offers repos and reverse repos with maturities of less than seven days; seen as a step towards interest rate liberalisation
BoJ paper challenges FSB governance style
Discussion paper asks whether ‘new governance’ model used by Financial Stability Board is effective, and suggests possible avenues for reform
Finnish paper finds sterilisation bonds can benefit Asia
Bank of Finland discussion paper examines rising use of sterilisation bonds by six central banks in Asia and finds ‘encouraging’ evidence of their effectiveness
RBI’s Subbarao justifies greater central bank focus on poverty
Duvvuri Subbarao explains why a move towards greater emphasis on identifying and measuring poverty is important for the Reserve Bank
NY Fed research plays down QE impact on emerging markets
Staff report says large-scale asset purchases have a relatively small impact on capital flows to emerging economies in the aggregate, but finds substantial variation between countries
IMF sees southern European free-fall begin to slow
Mission chief for Greece says painful adjustment proceeding ‘apace’, although questions raised over potential €9.5 billion funding gap; Fund praises ‘impressive policy effort’ in Portugal
Fed researchers plot balance sheet exit strategy
Federal Reserve economists project possible routes towards returning the balance sheet to a 'normal' size, finding that the process should only have a temporary impact on the Fed's income
Dallas Fed calls for a return to 'traditional' system of smaller banks
Special report advocates limiting the size of banks; champions a return to less public support and greater market discipline
Albania governor calls for deeper European integration to fight crisis
Ardian Fullani says Europe at "opposite end of the spectrum" from China; adds integrating eastern neighbours would be mutually beneficial
Ex-BoE policymaker Goodhart favours expanding balance sheet over NGDP target
Charles Goodhart says incoming BoE governor should buy a wider range of private sector assets; warns against nominal GDP level target