Exchange rate
Bank of Namibia defends currency deal with Angola
Namibia's central bank addresses stakeholders' concerns over its currency conversion agreement with the National Bank of Angola, including the latter’s ability to buy back kwanza
Information content of capital flows affects exchange rate impact, SNB paper finds
Private information conveyed by different kinds of capital flows affects the impact on the exchange rate, a working paper published by the Swiss National Bank finds
Zambia hikes by 300bp as inflation almost doubles
Bank of Zambia increases policy rate to 15.5% in an effort to keep inflation expectations anchored in single digits; annual inflation jumps to 14.3% in October as kwacha slides
Central Bank of Iceland approves failed bank plans
Central Bank of Iceland approves ‘composition agreements’ by failed banks, offering them the opportunity to duck a heavy stability tax
Swaziland currency drops under Fed decision pressures
Delayed Fed rate rise put pressure on Swaziland lilangeni, central bank says, and more moves are likely
Former Nigerian governor Sanusi attacks current central bank policy
Former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria Sanusi Lamido Sanusi challenges monetary policy stance of Nigeria’s central bank and calls for a currency devaluation
FOMC minutes spell out inflation concerns
Several members were concerned disinflationary pressure from low oil prices and a strong dollar could persist longer than anticipated and ‘delay or diminish’ the expected rise in inflation
ECB watching oil and euro closely for inflation risks
Deflation has become less likely in the eurozone since the implementation of quantitative easing, but falling oil prices are pressing on inflation expectations, governing council says
European real effective exchange rates are hugely misaligned, paper argues
Real effective exchange rates for European Union countries do not correspond to national economic fundamentals, a working paper from the Bank of Lithuania argues
FSB report finds mixed progress on benchmark reforms
Report welcomes ‘good progress’ on many recommendations, particularly surrounding London fix, but identifies room for improvements
‘Little support’ from data for theories of disconnect between trade and exchange rates, IMF report says
Data largely supports conventional economic wisdom linking movements in trade flows with levels of exchange rates, according to WEO chapter; Japan may be an exception
Lithuanian paper explores macroeconomic imbalances
Working paper advocates a more refined analysis of the misalignments in current accounts and real effective exchange rates for the macroeconomic imbalance procedure
IMF paper offers recipe for ‘de-dollarisation’
High levels of dollarisation in central Asia are contributing to macroeconomic instability, paper says; authors offer various options that could help reduce reliance on dollars
Poloz expects Canada to manage adjustment well
Bank of Canada governor says the floating exchange rate will help the country to adjust to the resource price shock, while reducing the disinflationary risks that come with it
Russian governor weighs exchange rate pass-through
Elvira Nabiullina discusses the bank of Russia’s estimates for how much the depreciation of the ruble will impact inflation, conceding prices have increased faster than expected
BoE’s Forbes calls for rethink of exchange rate pass-through
MPC member outlines new, more nuanced approach to measuring the exchange rate’s impact on inflation, noting this implies rates could need to be tightened sooner than older models suggest
PBoC reveals $93.9 billion drop in reserves
People’s Bank of China reveals size of drop last month, driven by intervention in foreign exchange markets after devaluing yuan; reserves sat at $3.56 trillion at end of August
FX working group grappling with enforcement, says Debelle
Harmonisation of global foreign exchange codes is proving relatively straightforward, but 'adherence is our biggest challenge', says RBA assistant governor
RBA deputy welcomes ‘considerable’ exchange rate adjustment
Philip Lowe says flexibility of the exchange rate, labour market and monetary policy have helped Australian economy adjust to ‘downswing’ in commodity prices and mining investment
Zhou says markets have stabilised as G20 meetings end
The central bank governor says the renminbi and Chinese stock markets have largely finished correcting; G20 policy-makers pledge to avoid competitive devaluation
EAC officials highlight exchange rate pass-through concerns
Both central banks wary of potential for domestic inflation to increase in face of depreciating currencies; concerns over impact of external environment raised in EAC member statement
National Bank of Denmark calls end to crisis measures
Central bank has moved from buying to selling foreign exchange in recent months, opening up room to return deposit limits to more normal levels and re-start government bond issuance
East African governors say structural measures needed to stabilise currencies
Senior central bank officials from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda identify measures necessary to ensure long-term stability of their currencies
Kazakh central bank moves to stabilise banking sector
Central bank launches plan to compensate depositors hit by collapse in value of tenge, as banks reliant on external funding run into problems