Central Banks
Lockhart to watch inflation closely over the coming year
‘Mildly not wildly’: Atlanta Fed president remains optimistic for 2016 outlook, adding rate hikes not likely to occur at every meeting
Villeroy de Galhau and Fischer express caution over inflation target change
There could be costs to changing inflation targets in response to persistent low inflation, say François Villeroy de Galhau, Christian Noyer and Stanley Fischer
Hungarian central bank eases by scrapping deposit facility
The central bank announces the closure of its two-week deposit facility in April, in a move it hopes will lead banks to buy government bonds and lower long-term yields
Financial market risk being pushed into ETFs, Noyer warns
Central bankers must develop oversight of ETFs and similar securities, Noyer tells farewell seminar; must also convince markets and public of opposition to low inflation and deflation
Kaplan urges careful consideration of volatility
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas president Robert Kaplan warns of the potential for further market volatility as normalisation continues
Mexico to ‘persevere’ in strengthening macroeconomic framework, bank deputy says
Deputy governor says effect of further normalisation in US policy ‘unclear’; Mexico to continue strengthening financial system
PBoC looks to expand lending programme for SMEs
Central bank to 'steadily advance' refinancing scheme as economy expected to slow further; Ma Jun clarifies PBoC's position on exchange rate fluctuations
People: Patel reappointed RBI deputy; Kocherlakota moves to University of Rochester
RBI deputy Urjit Patel gets second three-year term; Narayana Kocherlakota takes up economics chair at University of Rochester; Canadian governor to head BIS’s consultative council for the Americas
Brazil will adopt ‘necessary measures’ to control inflation, says Tombini
Tombini tells finance minister he expects inflation to return to midpoint of target range by the end of 2017; Brazil inflation breaches 10% for 2015
IMF supports tighter monetary policy in Mozambique
Rate rises are necessary to counter the inflationary pressures of currency depreciation, Fund says
Spanish paper models synergies between demand and supply policies in monetary union
Working paper model sees benefits in jointly implementing structural reforms in the ‘periphery’ of a union, with fiscal expansion in the ‘core’ and forward guidance on interest rates
Bank of England paper explores exchange rate pass-through using ‘big data’
Author finds the pass-through to import prices varies depending on the size of the exchange rate movement at the micro level, but it is a different story at the macro level
IMF paper compares impact of monetary and macro-prudential policies
Research considers effects of measures in ‘systemic advanced economies’ on financial conditions both at home and abroad; monetary shocks in US can have ‘significant’ impact
Venner’s successor: Grenada official named first new Eastern Caribbean governor since 1989
Grenada secretary to the ministry of finance named governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank after seven-month search; takes office on February 1
US delivers strong jobs growth to end 2015
Report shows nonfarm payrolls expanded by 292,000 in in December, while figures for both October and November revised up; unemployment rate unchanged at 5% for the third consecutive month
Riksbank minutes reveal debate over monetary framework
Board members welcome debate over target variable and possible reinstatement of tolerance band, but af Jochnick warns changes should not be made simply because of recent failures to hit target
Risk that US public lowers inflation expectations, Chicago Fed president warns
The Federal Reserve’s undershooting of its inflation target in recent years may lower the inflation expectations of the American public, making future monetary policy harder, Evans warns
Denmark hikes deposit rate after record drop in reserves
Central bank lifts deposit rates and reduces banks’ current account limits; capital outflows accelerated in December following ECB actions
Korean paper explores ‘divergent’ spillovers to EMs
Macro-prudential policies key to protecting emerging markets from spillovers, research says; normalisation in the US could lead to ‘renewed tensions’
BoJ board reveals miscommunication fears
New ‘summary of opinions’ reveals some on board concerned about giving impression stimulus is at its limit, while some see dangers to taking further action
Mauritius looks to set up asset management company
Central bank launches public consultation on creation of bad bank, which would help ‘clean up clogged balance sheets’ of country’s banks
Room for monetary policy stimulus has ‘narrowed’ in many EMs, World Bank report warns
Little room left to use monetary or fiscal stimulus in event of growth shock in some countries, report says, pointing to role for structural reform