Growth
UK economy stumbles as Brexit looms
Quarterly growth slips to 0.2% in final quarter of 2018, and monthly growth turns negative in December; business investment also down
BoE offers bleak forecasts as Brexit 'fog' deepens further
Rates stay on hold as central bank eyes growing damage from Brexit uncertainty
RBA governor does not rule out a rate cut in 2019
Uncertain international outlook has rebalanced policy options towards a looser approach
PBoC handed leading role in macro-prudential policy
Shake-up of PBoC’s governance structure sees central bank gain macro-prudential department
Chilean central bank hikes rates
Rate rise comes despite US Fed holding rates on January 30
Kazakh president piles pressure on central bank to boost growth
Autocratic ruler berates ministers and central bank chief over banks and growth rates
Bank of Ghana slashes further 100bp from policy rate
Action follows similar move in 2018, as inflation declines into the target range
Rwanda’s Rwangombwa handed second term
Governor previously oversaw improvement in country’s growth prospects and progress towards single eastern currency union
Norges Bank leaves rates unchanged
Central bank says it is still likely to hike rates in March 2019
Risks to eurozone growth are rising, warns Draghi
Uncertainty over trade and political instability are affecting confidence, ECB president says
Riksbank’s normalisation faces darker global outlook
Looser stance in the US and eurozone may hamper new hikes in Sweden
Korea’s sluggish economy dampens growth prospects
Bank of Korea revises growth forecasts and leaves interest rates on hold
BoJ cuts inflation forecast in fourth consecutive outlook report
Central bank maintains interest rates and yield curve control
Latin America has 66% more fintech startups than in 2017 – IDB
IDB report also reveals the region has a higher proportion of female founders than global average
Paper proposes ‘re-engineering’ US statistics
System for compiling statistics is dated and overly complex, authors say
IMF expects global growth to slow further in 2019
“Significantly higher” and “increasingly intertwined” risks weigh on global growth, Lagarde says
Brexit unlikely to affect sterling’s reserve currency status
No-deal scenario could put major downward pressure on the currency
BoJ must normalise policy to cope with ageing population – former official
Japanese firms face labour shortages and limited ability to raise prices- Shirai
Turkish central bank makes early payout to government
Extraordinary general meeting sees CBRT agree to similar actions in future
Fall in technology use helped slow Canadian productivity, BoC paper finds
But slowdown in labour productivity began eight years before fall in technology use – researchers
Indonesia keeps rates unchanged
Governor signals benchmark rate is “almost at its peak”
CBRT holds main rate steady at 24%
Turkish central bank keeps rates high as signs emerge of a “rebalancing trend” in the economy
Key Brexit vote complicates outlook for UK economy
Vote this evening leaves UK’s political and economic future uncertain; analysts optimistic on outlook for sterling
Low US unemployment unlikely to foster sudden wage growth – research
Fed projections see unemployment rate falling to 3.5% by the end of 2019