Growth
Rajan tells banks to prepare for ‘deep surgery’
RBI governor says banks will have until March 2017 to clean up their balance sheets; banking sector represents weak spot of otherwise vibrant economy
Australian governor Stevens stresses policy ‘flexibility’
Governor says Reserve Bank of Australia has scope to ease monetary policy if need be, though economy expected to continue expanding
Central Bank of Brazil faces ‘policy dilemmas’
Tombini facing tough challenge as inflation rises into double figures while the IMF predicts deeper recession; observers divided on what comes next
IMF staff tell Turkey to fix imbalances
Fund mission says central bank must tighten policy to head off growing external imbalances and inflation; low oil price keeping a lid on problems but longer-term solutions needed
BoJ research estimates impact of Olympics on growth
Authors suggest Tokyo Olympics will boost Japan’s annual real GDP growth by 0.2-0.3 percentage points from 2015-2018, as tourism and construction investment picks up
Economists point to external woes as Central Bank of Brazil holds rates
Monetary policy committee leaves interest rate at 14.25% in surprise move; politics and fiscal policy making life harder for central bank, analysts suggest
Carney says UK rate hike still some way off
Continued weakness in key indicators begins to puzzle policy-makers as Carney suggests there is room for the MPC to wait longer; CPI and core inflation on the rise
IMF cuts global growth forecast on back of EM challenges
Maurice Obstfeld says emerging markets and developing economies account for more than two-thirds of revisions; largest changes come in Brazil, where the MPC meets today
Room for monetary policy stimulus has ‘narrowed’ in many EMs, World Bank report warns
Little room left to use monetary or fiscal stimulus in event of growth shock in some countries, report says, pointing to role for structural reform
Chilean central bank spells out risks to outlook
Central bank expects inflation to return to 3% target by end of 2017 according to latest forecasts; details risks from home and abroad to macroeconomic outlook
RBI is rebalancing shadow-banking regulation, Gandhi says
The central bank seeks to tighten regulation and move from entity- to activity-based rules, the deputy governor says
Brazil private growth expectations slide further
Brazilian economy will contract by 3.62% this year with inflation breaching the 10% barrier, private institutions say
Global value chain key to realising growth potentials, says Sri Lanka governor
Mahendran says Sri Lanka has not integrated fully into the international value chain; former World Bank chief economist Lin discusses ‘new’ structural economics
South Africa evades recession with positive growth in third quarter
Agriculture sector remains a concern despite economic growth in third quarter, most recent Sarb quarterly review notes
Economists outline improved DSGE forecasting method
Bank of England working paper attempts to improve forecast performance by using a multi-step approach to estimating parameters, delivering what the authors say are ‘significant’ improvements
RBA’s Kent sees positive side to Chinese readjustment
China’s economic rebalancing is likely to bring benefits to Australia’s economy as well as costs, Reserve Bank of Australia assistant governor says
Riksbank paper examines mixed forecast performance
Researchers find the central bank has tended to be overly optimistic on foreign economic performance, but makes similar errors to other institutions
Kganyago defends bank’s inflation targeting regime
South African Reserve Bank governor insists striving to meet an inflation target is not the same as ignoring growth, in speech in Cape Town
RBI advisers supported rate cut, minutes show
Minutes of technical advisory committee meeting show six of seven members recommended a cut as inflation in India had fallen ‘dramatically’ and growth proved elusive
BoE’s new MPC member grilled on financial assets
Treasury Committee questions Gertjan Vlieghe on real or perceived conflict of interest; Ian McCafferty justifies view on rate hike in reappointment hearing
IMF paper challenges idea of debt threshold effect
Countries with high levels of public debt can grow just as fast as their peers, provided the debt is on a downward trajectory, research finds
Inflation targeting should be improved, not replaced, RBA paper says
Rather than a ‘fundamental re-engineering’ of inflation targeting, central banks should adopt a flexible approach that pays some heed to output, authors argue
Iceland hikes again amid inflation shock
Large wage increases force central bank to reassess its inflation forecast and hike rates for a second meeting in a row, with more likely to follow
China should ‘rein in’ vulnerabilities, IMF warns
Economy faces challenge in balancing reform and growth, with IMF warning of growing risks in the financial system and need for further rebalancing