Central Banks
Sint Maarten and Curaçao monetary union needs 'less political wisdom', more co-ordinated action
Emsley Tromp, president of the countries' shared central bank says monetary policy is helping to shrink persistent current account deficits but argues more co-ordinated action 'imperative'
Unanimous Fed decision to taper 'sets precedent'
FOMC scales back monthly purchases by another $10 billion, makes no mention of EM turmoil; unanimous decision seen as making dissent less likely in coming meetings
Kazakhstan experiences 10-year inflation low
Quarterly inflation falls to 0.6% in latest figures; National Bank of Kazakhstan predicts it will increase in the coming quarter but remain in check throughout 2014
RBNZ signals impending rate rise
Reserve Bank of New Zealand says it expects to increase the OCR ‘soon’ as inflationary pressures look set to increase over the next two years; today’s rate hold surprises markets
People: Israel appoints new currency head; ESRB re-elects Ingves
ESRB also reappoints Marek Belka, president of the National Bank of Poland, to steering committee and appoints Richard Portes, founder of CEPR, to Advisory Scientific Committee
Russia 'welcomes' weaker currency as central bank sticks to float plan
Russian rouble is latest currency to be hit in emerging markets turmoil, but analysts believe the central bank will stick to its stated policy - or loosen their grip on the exchange rate
Sovereign wealth fund could help fiscal discipline in Algeria, says IMF
Fund suggests setting up a SWF and implementing a ‘full-fledged' fiscal rule to help manage volatile hydrocarbon revenues and curb inflationary pressures
Pakistan governor resigns for ‘personal reasons’
Yaseen Anwar steps down from the State Bank of Pakistan top job after a family member suffers a serious injury; new deputy governor appointed to help grow the Islamic banking sector
Riksbank worries over fallout from ‘sharp corrections' in house prices
Swedish households' interest-rate expectations guided by current levels rather than projections, recently published document finds; Lars Svensson calls findings potentially ‘biased and misleading'
RBI’s Joshi calls for ‘revamped’ bank structures
Deepali Pant Joshi tells Indian banks to enhance their financial inclusion efforts by hiring a ‘separate cadre of staff’ to provide banking services to far-flung rural areas
Barnier publishes bank split proposals
Europe’s 30 largest banks would be banned from engaging in proprietary trading and forced to separate other risk activities from their retail business under proposed reforms
Carney lectures Scots on dangers of monetary union without fiscal union
Bank of England governor tells Edinburgh audience that successful currency union would need banking union, and would risk moral hazard without fiscal union
Turkey and South Africa shock markets with interest rate hikes
South Africa and Turkey join India in raising rates in the face of persistent inflationary pressures and sharp currency devaluations, ahead of the FOMC decision later today
Philippines central bank joins financial stability council
Central Bank of the Philippines will join department of finance and three domestic regulators on a joint body designed to ‘identify, manage and mitigate’ build-up of systemic risks
Risk discrimination 'essential', argues Bank of Spain deputy
Fernando Restoy rebuffs 'excessively simplistic approaches that prevent capital requirements being adapted to each bank's business model'
Central Bank of Peru revises annual growth and inflation rates downwards
Bank expects inflation, at 3% annualised in November, to converge to 2% target in 2014; IMF projects 2.5%, citing 'well-anchored expectations'
RBI rate hike is first step on ‘glide path’
Raghuram Rajan says the Urjit Patel committee has outlined an ‘appropriate’ path for reducing inflation, but insists today’s rate hike does not signal the adoption of a formal inflation target
Nigerian deputy says investment, not aid, will lead Africa to prosperity
Kingsley Moghalu, head of financial stability at the Central Bank of Nigeria, calls for ‘nationally defined' growth strategy and the ‘political will' to realise it
Bangladesh Bank: inflation target ‘may prove challenging’
High food inflation and a pick-up in consumer demand could make it difficult for the Bangladesh Bank to restrain inflation to 7% for the 2014 fiscal year
Russia says Bitcoin users will be suspected of money laundering
Central Bank of Russia joins roster of monetary authorities warning citizens off virtual currencies - but goes one step further in saying its use is against the law
Simple indicators better for regulators, BoE economist argues
The experience of the 2008 crisis shows leverage ratios are better warning signs than more complex measures like capital ratios
PBoC commits to more market reform
The People’s Bank of China reiterates the importance of handing markets a ‘decisive role’ in resource allocation in the quest for sustainable economic growth; looks forward to 2014