Central Banks
Ghana’s central bank cuts interest rates to 13.5%
Inflationary pressures have all but disappeared, central bank says, but uncertainty around new variants could undermine recovery
Eurozone inflation reaches target for first time since 2018
Early estimates suggest HICP inflation hit 2% in May
The Belt and Road Initiative 2021 Survey – The impact of Covid‑19 on the BRI
The fourth annual Belt and Road Initiative survey reveals that the Covid‑19 pandemic has disrupted many projects despite China remaining committed to financing the initiative, which is expected to support future economic growth and environmental…
FSB sets targets to tackle cross-border payments issues
Proposals are “foundational step” in G20 initiative to improve global payments
Are we entering the polymer age?
CCL Secure explores the security and anti-counterfeit benefits of polymer banknote technology. As this developing technology reveals its advantages over traditional paper-based banknotes, could we soon see a shift in the status quo in polymer’s favour?
Boards or committees tend to set monetary policy
Some central banks set the same monetary policies as part of supra-national institutions
People: Sarah Breeden becomes BoE’s executive director for financial stability
Senior official who has played key role in BoE’S climate initiatives will replace Alex Brazier
New York Fed announces record use of reverse repo facility
Value of transactions exceeds December peak and number of counterparties nearly doubles
Mexican board members concerned by inflation, minutes show
Bank of Mexico board held rates at 4% in spite of 6.1% year-on-year inflation in April
Former Bank of Israel governor Klein dies
Governor oversaw transition to inflation target and sometimes clashed with government
Governments often play role in appointing boards
Boards often mix government members, central bank officials and non-execs
RBI faces dilemma from US policy spillovers – BIS paper
Authors highlight evidence of “contractionary devaluation” when US monetary policy tightens
Chinese CBDC could bolster renminbi internationalisation – Hui Feng
Academic believes digital currency efforts could facilitate renminbi’s international acceptance and ‘popularity’
Danish central bank may tighten house lending rules
National Bank of Denmark recommends that FSA reimpose countercyclical buffers
Fed’s Quarles says time is coming for taper talk
St Louis Fed’s Bullard says it is “too early” to talk of tapering asset purchases
Inequality can worsen recessions – BIS paper
But authors say there is little evidence that income inequality affects consumption in normal times
Bolivian central bank to buy local gold
Government initiative aims to prevent smuggling
Formal strategy committees remain relatively rare
Boards of directors are widely used but specialist oversight committees are less common
Considerations for investing in emerging market debt
Luther Bryan Carter and Michael Cross delve into common considerations for central banks looking at investing in emerging market debt
A return of the inflation monster?
There are fears that a shift in intellectual approach towards running economies ‘hot’ could herald a return of the money-eating inflation era
ECB should adopt symmetric 2% target with AIT – US economist
Academics and former officials say ECB’s new policy framework needs to be nimble to react more quickly to inflation changes
Time series models need adapting for Covid-19 shock – ECB paper
Authors explain methods for making Phillips curves and VAR models more robust