Europe
Banque de France predicts 6% economic contraction
Confinement laws have had a significant impact on activity
People: Sarb and BoE renew senior appointments
Senior Sarb and BoE officials receive new terms; MAS picks new assistant managing director; ECB appoints director; William Dudley takes consulting job
ECB buys Italian bonds well above capital key in March
Central bank bought €11.8 billion in Italian sovereign bonds last month, up from €2.2 billion in February
Is the ESM the eurozone’s best weapon against Covid-19?
Eurobonds face economic and political hurdles, say former officials
Riksbank picks ECB’s Tips for instant krona settlement system
Central bank preparing system for round-the-clock settlement in Swedish krona
ECB extends strategy review until mid-2021
Central bank postpones public events by six months due to the Covid-19 crisis
Bank of Portugal removes limits on credit card use
Central bank issues new regulation to encourage the use of electronic payments
Amplifying the soundwaves: the evolution of social media communications
Central banks’ social media usage is on the rise, but their choice of platform is shifting more and more towards the visual
Debelle: regulation could be ‘helpful’ to FX code
As EU weighs regulation of spot market, GFXC chair dismisses key industry argument
Banque de France seeks partner for wholesale CBDC project
Project will explore CBDC use cases in interbank payment space
ECB makes record sovereign bond purchases
Central bank ramped up purchases under the PSPP programme in the week to March 27
‘Ostrich approach’ to financial stability is a mistake
Denmark’s top supervisor, Jesper Berg, says scaling back IFRS 9 would be a costly error, despite the economic challenges raised by Covid-19
ECB asks eurozone banks to stop dividends
Bank of Israel also asks banks to reassess the distribution of dividends
Pricing the lives saved by coronavirus policies
How does the effort to reduce risks to human life from Covid-19 compare with the economic losses?
Concentrated firepower: central banks must expand their arsenal
Philip Turner argues central banks should be prepared to go further to avoid economic and financial collapse
IMF and Yale provide data on virus responses
IMF site provides information on G20 country responses to virus
ECB drops bond-holding limits for crisis response
€750bn stimulus programme will not be subject to previous limits on holding countries’ bonds
ECB paper looks at euro exchange rate shocks
Exogenous exchange rate shocks having more impact on eurozone inflation, researchers find
ECB sharply ramps up asset purchases
Central bank increases securities holdings by €17.4 billion, the highest for two years
Major economies already engaging in ‘currency wars’ – former IMF chief
De Larosière floats new commodity-based exchange rate regime; says “trust” is key to avoiding “beggar-thy-neighbour” policies
The dawn of a safer and sounder European banking sector
Implementation of two pillars of banking union has led to significant improvements in the safety and soundness of the European banking system
ECB temporarily relaxes NPL regulation
Central bank estimates lower capital requirements will release €120 billion for lending
Dollar crunch eases as central banks step up swaps action
Core swap recipients will offer daily dollar auctions; cross-currency basis narrows
ECB launches €750bn emergency purchase programme
Governing council says new tool will remain active until Covid-19 crisis is over, stands ready to increase it