Exchange rate
IMF staff encourage central Asian economies to overcome ‘fear of floating’
Even in economies with supposedly free-floating currencies, central banks have a hard time resisting the urge to intervene, IMF report says
IMF’s Rennhack outlines challenges facing LatAm economies
Robert Rennhack sees terms of trade driving real exchange rates; tells audience in Mexico region as a whole is in recession
Carney dismisses independence fears after EU referendum comments
Governor says BoE has responsibility to comment on short-term impact of EU referendum; fog of uncertainty makes policy-making unusually difficult, as MPC holds rate again
Syrian central bank slashes exchange rate as currency pressure grows
Central bank allows sharp depreciation of currency and adopts more flexible approach to setting peg, clamping down on black market trading
Borio: Pluralism may not be answer to weakness in international system
Claudio Borio sees the “main problem” in the international monetary and financial system as the lack of an effective anchor, and is not sure greater pluralism addresses this
World Bank report sees risks if Mozambique continues to raise rates
Report praises efforts of central bank so far but says further tightening could harm certain sectors of the economy; exchange rate volatility having adverse effects on debt
Swiss franc still ‘significantly overvalued' – Jordan
Chairman of Swiss National Bank governing board says dual policy of negative rates and willingness to intervene in forex market are helping support the economy
Sub-Saharan African countries need more responsive policy – IMF staff
Some central banks “impeded” in pursuit of primary mandate; staff report discourages government and structural development financing
‘Challenging' year spurs diversification of Hong Kong's exchange fund
HKMA says it is accelerating its process of reserves diversification after it was hit by a "triple whammy" in all major asset classes in 2015
Trilemma, dilemma, and the PBoC's primer for the 'new normal'
Hui Feng argues the PBoC faces a dilemma not a trilemma – but the effort of balancing the two goals is painful all the same
Towards a more stable monetary world order
A global network of independent central banks could act as a manager of expectations for asset and foreign exchange prices to reduce the burden of future crises, argues David Harrison
Bank of Mexico to send government 239 billion pesos on back of reserve gains
Some 70% of surplus to be used to pay off outstanding government debt or reduce new issuance, while the remaining money will be used to support stabilisation fund
IMF staff raise concerns over Nigeria’s FX regime
Report voices worries about unintended consequences of FX restrictions, calling for more flexibility in exchange rate; Nigeria's authorities insist measures are temporary
Norges Bank researchers grapple with nonlinear exchange rate pass-through
Exchange rate pass-through in Norway is unusually high, which the authors suggest could be due to the size of recent currency movements – but pinning down the effect empirically proves difficult
Angolan central bank hikes again amid soaring inflation
Inflation breaches 20% in February prompting central bank to raise interest rates to 14%; new governor continues tightening cycle in attempt to curb prices
Solomon Islands urged to include renminbi in exchange rate basket by IMF staff
IMF staff suggest changes to exchange rate regime; Solomon Island authorities will consider expanding basket, but reject suggestion of using cash reserve ratio to mop up excess liquidity
Deputy governor warns of perils in changing Sweden’s inflation target
Sweden would only be able to raise its inflation rate successfully if other major economies around the world did also, deputy governor Ohlsson says – competiveness would disappear
Guy Debelle reviews forex code progress ahead of first-phase release in May
Global code to be implemented as principles rather than rules; regulators may implement with element of variation depending on market participants, Debelle notes
Norges Bank willing to consider move into negative territory
Central bank cuts rates to 0.5% and signals further action likely to follow; executive board concerned by side-effects of negative rates, but willing to use them if necessary
Equities support Danish central bank's profits in 2015
Move into riskier assets contributes to profits in 2015, in addition to significant returns from defending the krone; costs are also on the rise following major IT project
Venezuela revamps foreign exchange regime
Government moves to exchange rate system, offering an official and floating rate to market participants; second sets of changes in as many years
Paper finds evidence in favour of ‘exchange-rate-anchored inflation targeting’
A working paper published by the IMF finds ‘tight management’ of the exchange rate can help support inflation targeting in ‘less developed countries’
Central bank models need to adjust to nature of exchange rate pass-through, paper says
Exchange rate pass-through shown to be incomplete, endogenous, nonlinear and asymmetric; working paper seeks to quantify effect over time
Debt deal struck but ‘heated’ discussions await Argentine president in congress
Vulture funds satisfied but Argentine president faces an ‘uphill’ battle getting deal through congress; analysts ultimately expect it to be approved, but see other challenges on the horizon