Central Banks
New leadership for Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Monetary Council
Chairmanship of ECCB’s Monetary Council moves to St Kitts and Nevis member; rate-setters leave key rates alone after reviewing mixed economic data
Bank of Spain names new director-general
Francisco Javier Priego becomes director-general; remains head of the central bank’s legal department
Sack withdraws resignation and stays on at NY Fed
Brian Sack stays on as a senior adviser to New York Fed president William Dudley; new head of markets group already appointed
IMF paper studies debt sustainability in low-income countries
Working paper considers effect of financial crisis on debt sustainability in low-income countries; finds short-term impact but a return to sustainable levels in the longer run
Ireland’s Honohan highlights advantages of ‘more Europe’
Patrick Honohan discusses challenges of restoring market confidence in the eurozone; says Ireland has ‘quite a lot to gain’ from further integration with Europe
Peru central bank paper models interbank lending
Working paper develops New Keynesian model including an interbank lending market to analyse dual effect of reserve requirements and interest rates
BoJ Tankan survey shows increased business confidence
Tankan short-term economic survey reports overall increase in manufacturing confidence; forecasts further increases in next quarter
US authorities explain living will review process
Largest banking groups must hand in resolution plans by July 2; preliminary reviews will be completed within 60 days say FDIC and Fed
New microfinance scheme launched in Hong Kong
Microfinance scheme to be run by Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation in collaboration with banks and non-government organisations; follows joint study with Hong Kong Monetary Authority last year
King calls for overhaul of UK banking system
Governor of the Bank of England says cultures of investment and retail banking operations do not mix; calls on government to legislate on all of Independent Commission on Banking’s recommendations
Basel Committee unveils framework for monitoring D-Sibs
Consultative document sets out loss-absorbency guidelines for domestic systemically important banks; principles allow greater flexibility than rules for global institutions
Euro group agrees on single banking supervisory mechanism
Umbrella supervision body 'run by ECB' to be established; exhausted EC president refuses to discuss details of plan to directly recapitalise European banks
Zambian governor calls for action on SME finance
Bank of Zambia governor says policy-makers should do more to encourage financial flows to small and medium scale enterprises; examines benefits and risks of extending funding to these firms
National Bank of Hungary predicts stagflation
Quarterly inflation report projects growth contraction in 2012; says inflation is likely to persist above target due to government tax increases
Bhutanese central bank warns of external imbalances
Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan monetary policy statement outlines threats to currency peg; says long-run solution requires strengthening of macroeconomic fundamentals
RBI paper suggests alternative to Basel capital buffer
Working paper considers applicability of using debt-to-GDP ratio as guide to capital buffer; argues India requires a different method to assess capital requirements
Sarb launches Ponzi scheme awareness campaign
Central bank warns public of Ponzi scheme risks; says it investigates a number of illegal operations each year
‘Branchless’ banking increasing in Pakistan
So-called 'branchless banking' transactions grew 23% between January and March this year; accounts linked to mobile phones reached over 1 million during the period
Poland finalises Swiss currency swap agreement to protect banking sector
National Bank of Poland signs 'precautionary' currency swap deal with Swiss National Bank; in place to deal with liquidity pressures surrounding financing in Swiss francs
Sweden joins opposition to European banking union
Swedish government opposes European banking union proposals; Czech National Bank also expresses concerns
Reserve Bank of New Zealand examines bank funding
Quarterly bulletin article considers relationship between official cash rate and cost of bank funding; finds funding costs relative to the OCR changed following financial crisis