Central Banks
Russia hikes rates as Ukraine crisis brings financial volatility
The Bank of Russia raised rates by 150bp today in an emergency measure aimed at taming currency volatility; Ukraine brings in tighter forex controls
People: IMF hires Vitor Gaspar; Poland deputy reappointed
Former Bank of Portugal and ECB research head Vitor Gaspar will become director of fiscal affairs at the IMF; Piotr Wiesiołek handed second term at National Bank of Poland; and more
Former deputy nominated as Bank of Korea governor
South Korean president nominates Lee Ju-yeol as Kim Choong-soo’s successor; Lee spent 35 years at the central bank in his first stint including three years as a deputy
Norway oil fund sets sights on more real estate
The Government Pension Fund Global saw 16% return in 2013, driven by equities gaining 26.3% while fixed income didn't budge; real estate is a growth area
Belgian paper presents new productivity indicators
Researchers from across Europe attempt to tackle the difficulty of comparing firm-level data across the continent by creating a new database of productivity indicators for Europe
Fed transcripts reveal forecasting travails
Crisis year transcripts reveal extent to which the Federal Reserve struggled to predict the depth of recession and deflation, raising questions about the usefulness of underlying models
ECB ‘obliged' to introduce OMT to defend price stability, Draghi tells Bundesbank
ECB president Mario Draghi tells a Bundesbank symposium in Frankfurt that OMTs build on the doctrine adhered to by the German central bank for several decades
British hacker charged over Fed computer break-in
Man charged after allegedly hacking into Federal Reserve files, downloading sensitive information and posting it to the internet; charges carry prison term of up to 12 years
Permanent drop in UK risk-free rate suggests lower interest rates the 'new normal'
Bank of England's David Miles says lower returns on safe assets prompted by changed risk perceptions will keep bank's benchmark rate below historic average
Asia weathered crisis better thanks to lessons of the '90s
The Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s led the countries affected to implement policies that stood them in good stead for the global crisis of the past few years
Yellen hits back at critics over 'discriminatory' treatment of foreign banks
Following EU complaints, Fed chair tells Senate panel that new regulations are essentially the same as those faced by US banks abroad; Bitcoin is outside Fed's remit
FX Invest Europe: Deutsche Bundesbank official praises Fed’s QE exit strategy
Christine Glockmann says other central bankers may copy Fed’s communication over QE tapering; says eurozone economic policy suffers from member states 'bickering'
Blanchard leads calls for more ‘democratic input’ in central bank decision-making
Viral Acharya, Olivier Blanchard, Richard Fisher, Otmar Issing and Klaas Knot debate new ‘paradigm’ of central banks with ever more responsibilities; Blanchard prescribes an injection of democracy
Markets see PBoC hand in RMB depreciation
The sharp fall in the RMB at the end of February is thought to have been a deliberate action by China’s central bank to engineer the development of a two-way market in the currency
Weidmann says macro-prudential instruments should be a ‘political top priority’
Bundesbank president says macro-prudential instruments should be prepared urgently; points out flaws in attaching greater importance to the financial sector when setting monetary policy
Ingves: Basel Committee still has ‘quite a bit of work to do’ on leverage ratio
Stefan Ingves tells banking supervisors in Asia-Pacific there is plenty of work left to do before the Basel Committee will be able to settle on the final calibration of the leverage ratio
Greek paper raises ‘red flag’ over Emu integration
Researcher from Bank of Greece analyses the impact of the Economic and Monetary Union on financial market integration by assessing its effect on capital holdings
Ukraine calls on IMF help as NBU focuses on financial stability
New government asks IMF and other international lenders for a bail-out; interim president tells central bank staff they must restore public confidence in the banking system
Iceland MPC fears debt relief package will boost inflation
Central Bank of Iceland frets over economic impact of government's plan to relieve 100,000 households of $1.32 billion in debt
Armenia pips Kazakhstan to coin award
Central Bank of Armenia commemorative coin triumphs over National Bank of Kazakhstan offering in an Italian competition for Best Coin of the Year