Japan
BoJ to offer zero-interest loans for climate projects
Central bank highlights five areas of focus in new climate strategy
Recipe for a chief (fin)tech officer
Private-sector experience, a knowledge of supervision and a zest for innovation are key ingredients for a chief fintech officer
Charles Goodhart on inflation targets, financial stability and the role of money
The LSE professor says inflation targets should have been 0%, the Fed’s move to AIT is a mistake, independence is under threat from inflation, big balance sheets support liquidity, AI can help supervisors and climate stress tests are unconvincing
The future of forward guidance
BNP Paribas Asset Management explores the current landscape around forward guidance, focusing on how central banks’ methods of communication are likely to evolve in the future. By Richard Barwell
Book notes: Quantitative easing, by Jonathan Ashworth
Well-documented and fairly comprehensive book for anyone, including central bankers, wanting an overview of how monetary policy has evolved in recent decades
The new era of money supply and its impact on policy
The empirical relationship between money and inflation has changed, writes Manmohan Singh, with Apoorv Bhargava and Peter Stella. To understand current policy challenges, we must first understand money creation
BoJ forecasts weaker inflation but stronger growth
Inflation still negative in Japan but likely to inch above zero this year, forecasts suggest
Covid-19 support may have created “zombie firms” – BIS economists
Policy-makers should impose tighter lending standards and reform bankruptcy law, analysts argue
HKMA and BoJ launch new securities settlement framework
New “delivery versus payment link” aims to reduce settlement risk
BoJ must prepare thoroughly for CBDC – Kuroda
Central bank should not rush issuance of CBDC, governor says
BoJ adjusts easing measures amid market distortion fears
Central bank announces lending incentives and more flexibility in yield curve control and ETF buys
People: Elderson approved as vice-chair of ECB supervisory council
Former Canadian deputy Wilkins joins insurance company; Japan nominates new policy board member; Rwandan deputy gains role at African Union Commission; and more
The Bank of Japan must adjust its monetary policy
Sayuri Shirai says the central bank needs to make its policy more sustainable. The BoJ is running out of ways to generate further monetary stimulus
Bank of Japan to start testing digital yen
BoJ embarks on year-long pilot programme to test functionality
The Covid crisis, central banks and the future
Crisis responses have had positive initial outcomes, but also exacerbated significant underlying challenges that raise concerns related to exit strategies and the future for central banks
Ulrich Bindseil on the launch of the digital euro
The ECB’s director-general for market infrastructure and payments speaks about the functionality, tiering approaches, privacy policies, ledger technology and ecosystem impact of the eurozone's planned CBDC
Bank of Japan launches policy review as deflation worsens
BoJ considers further monetary easing and extends special loan programmes
Whither the age of ‘magic money’?
EME central banks are more exposed to changes in geopolitics, climate, demography, technology and inflation at a time when monetary theory is running well behind central bank practice
ECB is caught in a ‘communications trap’ – Issing
Monetary policy architect says ‘close to’ 2% inflation target was never part of original plan; urges ECB to reject Fed-like average inflation targeting
The dawn of average inflation targeting
The Fed has failed to explain how it will calculate the ‘average’ for its new AIT framework, raising new risks that central bankers would do well to reflect on
Is there a path between the Covid abyss and chasm of financial risk?
Macro-prudential policies are being used to prevent economies from falling into the Covid abyss while also ensuring that a correction in ever-higher asset prices do not crush the economy. Are both objectives achievable?
BIS paper warns economies may stagnate after Covid-19
Author models the structural changes brought about by the coronavirus pandemic
World faces systemic debt crisis, IMF warns
IMF calls for urgent reforms and Japanese finance minister criticises China over debt agreement
A fiscal alternative to stabilise the post-Covid economy
Columbia professor Michael Woodford calls on policy-makers to think beyond interest rates