Interest rates
Turkish central bank continues monetary ‘simplification’ process
Upper band of interest rate corridor cut to 9.5%; inflation will be the main indicator for future decisions, bank says
Board member appointed as next Czech governor
Rusnok has been on the board since 2014 and is a former interim prime minister; he will serve a term of “at least five years”, from July 1
Philadelphia Fed president sees potential for two or three hikes in 2016
Patrick Harker warns of needs to avoid “aggressive policy actions” in the future; expects both inflation and expectations to rise in the medium-term
SBP catches markets off guard with cut
State Bank of Pakistan’s MPC votes for rate cut after being split 5-5 in April, confounding markets’ expectations; inflation on the rise
Exports decline ‘worrying’ as Bank of Israel holds
Monetary committee cites "intensifying decline" in exports as it holds the policy rate at 0.1%; inflation dips to –0.9%, as growth figures disappoint
Further tightening may be needed in Colombia, IMF says
Staff in Washington, DC, welcome “resolve” of central banking in latest tightening cycle; current account deficit and inflation expectations may call for further action
Fischer: improve estimates of long-run equilibrium rate
Fed vice-chair speaks at conference honouring US economist Michael Woodford; stresses need for "faster potential growth" as US nears full employment
June hike an option but Fed officials split on prospect
Minutes from FOMC meeting in April show “most” participants happy to hike next month if incoming data continues to improve, but some suspect gains may not come fast enough
Sarb ‘pauses’ hiking cycle on improved inflation outlook
South African monetary policy committee votes five-to-one to leave rates on hold; governor stresses central bank is not reversing policy
Dissent affects size but not clarity of minutes – paper
Study looks at BoE, BoJ, Fed and Riksbank; when dissent in monetary policy meetings increases, so does the size and content of the minutes, but readability is preserved
RBA minutes reveal discussion around rate cut
No real change in economic activity or unemployment rate, minutes show; committee 'persuaded' monetary easing would improve prospects for inflation and growth
Mexican deputy Sánchez takes stock of easy policy in advanced economies
Manuel Sánchez explains how extraordinary monetary accommodation may be generating costs; tells audience in Mexico central bank policy co-ordination is a challenge
Philippines announces new rate corridor
Central bank will introduce new lending and deposit facilities in June, with interest rates set either side of a lower policy rate
ECB paper presents evidence of risk-taking channel in US
Working paper finds interest rates affect the quality of bank credit in the US; researchers exploit confidential data on banks’ internal ratings of loans
Riksbank minutes highlight effort to protect rising inflation
Executive board members saw potential for krona appreciation as a risk to inflation outlook; broad support for additional asset purchases, but some questions over size
Fed presidents navigate ‘mixed signals’
Dennis Lockhart is putting more weight on positive employment picture than disappointing growth stats; both he and Robert Kaplan see potential for labour force to expand
RBA cuts to 1.75% as data disappoints
Glenn Stevens points to “unexpectedly low” inflation data as the Reserve Bank of Australia cuts its key rate by 25bp; Australian dollar slides following decision
Rajan sided with the consensus, minutes show
RBI governor cuts rates in line with views of external advisers; four of the five members wanted to reduce the repo rate at the April 5 meeting
Wheeler says further easing may be needed as RBNZ holds
Wheeler says interest rate cuts could be needed, though the RBNZ kept its key rate at 2.25% today; mixed picture with dairy export prices improving but currency still high
BoJ holds policy despite weakening expectations
Yen climbs as policy board keeps interest rates and asset purchases at existing levels; growth and inflation forecasts cut while there is “considerable uncertainty” around the outlook
Fed holds and drops reference to global risks
Federal Open Market Committee holds federal funds rate as widely expected; suggests growth in economic activity has slowed but concerns about global developments have eased
Researchers explore link between rates and consumption in new model
Working paper published by ECB examines transmission mechanism of monetary policy in a heterogeneous agent New Keynesian model
Fed liftoff pushed some rates down – Riksbank paper
Researchers find hike in policy rate lowered average interest rates on subprime lending, and narrowed spreads with the less risky section of the market, using novel "scraped" data set
Basel Committee opts for local discretion on rate risk
Committee abandons attempt to create common global standard for interest rate risk, opting instead to leave discretion with banks and supervisors in final standards