Central Banks
Unexpected increases in Fed funds rate prompt gold prices to rise
Atlanta Fed working paper examining futures data between 1998-2008 finds that unexpected changes in the Fed's monetary policy can influence commodity prices
Norges Bank issues ‘secret' advice on prudential regulation
Norwegian finance ministry will publish central bank recommendations on countercyclical buffers only once it has decided whether or not to follow the advice; bank holds interest rates at 1.5%
ECB ‘ready and able to act’ as staff lower inflation forecasts
European Central Bank holds key interest rate at 0.25% as staff predict inflation drop in 2014; Draghi says governing council is willing to use ‘all available instruments’
IMF warns Nigeria over large portfolio flows
Fund commends 'appropriate' monetary stance but warns of economic vulnerabilites caused by portfolio flows and dependency on oil receipts
New York Fed launches 'consumer expectations survey'
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York will launch monthly survey on consumer expectations early next year; project anchors newly inaugurated microeconomic research centre
ECB celebrates decade of international co-operation
Conference looks back at quarter of a century of co-operation between central banks around the world - in which the ‘helped have become the helpers' thanks to knowledge exchange
East African states strike deal over monetary union
Political leaders from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda sign protocol outlining the path towards an East African single currency area
Sveriges Riksbank overhauls communication strategy
Sweden's central bank will focus on ‘dialogue' to better explain its operations; 'openness and clarity' remain guiding principles for the bank, which regularly tops transparency rankings
Bank of Russia sees inflation out of monetary policy control
Improvements to the transmission mechanism should enable the Russian central bank to target inflation more effectively, but prices will be influenced predominantly by non-monetary factors
BoJ’s Sato says central bank is ‘breaking away’ from incremental policy
Policy board member Takehiro Sato says QQE marks a departure from the conventional incremental approach to policy-making; says additional easing could be ‘counterproductive'
Basel capital ratios lost credibility during crisis - Atlanta Fed paper investigates
Working paper says reliance of the Basel standards on overstated asset values in reported equity capital caused capital adequacy ratios to lose credibility with financial markets
Knot backs simple regulatory rules
Dutch central bank president says regulatory simplicity would make it easier for supervisors to detect risks and central banks to ‘promote’ financial stability
Serbia's Đelić calls for central bank governor to quit politics
Former minister behind central bank independence in 2003 says current governor should not also hold political office; calls on EBRD to shepherd 'orphan' banks to safety as foreign owners retreat
National Bank of Denmark winds up emergency lending measures
Six-month loans against a broad range of collateral introduced during the financial crisis will be terminated next year as normality returns to financial sector, central bank says
UK's financial regulator backs end to mortgage lending programme
BoE's Financial Policy Committee wary of the impact of higher interest rates on banks' and households' balance sheets; recommends mortgage lenders be required to heed stress test guidelines
RBA’s Stevens laments ‘uncomfortably high’ currency
Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens says the Australian dollar is still too strong, despite depreciation against the US dollar
Korea sheds light on MPC voting results
Bank of Korea monetary policy report reflects on the decision to announce voting results in the wake of MPC meetings; only one disagreement in the ensuing seven meetings
NY Fed vice-president on the evolution of Fed monetary operations
Simon Potter says the Fed has 'developed and tested' many different monetary policy tools since the crisis, including term and overnight reverse repos 'diverting deposits from banks'
Financial literacy in France is correlated with political engagement, study finds
Working paper finds middle-aged men are the most financially literate demographic; little difference between different political orientations, but the disengaged score worse on the test
African central banks need to brace for Fed tapering, says Ghana's Opata
African central banks should consider raising FX reserves to cover potential reserves losses and stress in domestic fixed income markets from Fed tapering, says Bank of Ghana official
Constâncio predicts ‘gradual decline’ in size of eurozone banking sector
European Central Bank vice-president says companies will increasingly turn to capital markets instead of banks for their financing needs
Uncertainty constrains credit supply, IMF paper finds
Working paper tests the theory that uncertainty would reduce the supply of loans in an economy, and finds it holds true - especially for smaller credit institutions
Bank of Portugal fails to fill chief economist vacancy
Board of directors calls off search for a new head of economics and research due to dearth of quality applicants; initiates review for a 'strategic repositioning' of the department