Interest rates
Romanian interest rates could fall yet further, says central bank
National Bank of Romania uses quarterly inflation report to signal it is likely to continue monetary easing, as inflationary pressures dissipate and growth remains weak
Bank of England ties monetary policy to unemployment
MPC will not raise interest rates or unwind its asset purchases ‘at least until’ the unemployment rate falls below 7%; unlikely to happen within the next three years according to latest forecast
IMF backs Czech forex intervention
Article IV says a ‘persistent and large undershooting’ of the Czech National Bank’s inflation target would warrant a weaker koruna; governor Miroslav Singer says board is coming round to the idea
ECB confirms forward guidance, holds rates without discussion
Mario Draghi confirms ECB expects to keep interest rates at current rates or lower, but tells press conference there was no discussion on changing rates today
BoE and Fed keep policy on hold
Federal Reserve points to risks of below target inflation and cools its assessment of economic activity; Bank of England expected to introduce forward guidance next week
Turkey’s central bank ramps up inflation forecast
Central bank raises inflation forecast for 2013 on account of depreciating lira and higher oil prices; MPC plots strategy for dealing with uncertainty surrounding the unwinding of QE
IMF looks to ECB for more monetary easing
IMF encourages the ECB to cut interest rates and launch a new round of long-term low-interest loans to buy more time for eurozone banks and legislators
Hungarian central bank signals rate cut slowdown
Monetary council cuts benchmark rate by 25 basis points for 12th consecutive meeting; says global volatility may justify a change in pace in coming months
Turkish rate rise brings easing to an end
Central bank increases overnight lending rate by 75 basis points; MPC signals willingness to tighten further as inflation jumps above 8%
Bank of Canada ‘sharpens’ forward guidance
Governing council commits to holding interest rate at 1% for as long as there is ‘significant slack’ in the economy, inflation is ‘muted’ and household debt remains under control
BoE's Fisher outlines likely QE exit route
BoE's head of markets tells parliamentary committee the MPC would hike interest rates as a signal that asset sales were on the way, but said its next move is more likely to be further easing
Turkish central bank weighs rate hike to stem lira slump
Governor Erdem Başçı says the MPC will consider widening the interest rate corridor in its meeting next week; forex auctions failed to reverse falling value of assets and currency
Bank of Lithuania refashions calculation for interbank lending rate
The central bank is replacing interest rates with credit ratings as basis for bank quotes
Russian central bank introduces new instrument for cheaper funding
New Bank of Russia governor brings in policy to auction 12-month loans to banks with a starting price 150bp under the standard 12-month repo rate
ECB monthly bulletin explains forward guidance
ECB's July bulletin sets out the thinking behind forward guidance, emphasising it is 'fully consistent with the ECB's mandate and monetary policy strategy'
Bank of Japan holds policy as economy ‘starts to recover'
BoJ confident inflation will start to rise, as starts to see signs of recovery in the economy; keeps quantitative and qualitative easing programme in place
Indonesia hikes policy rates by 50 basis points
Policy rate up to 6.5% despite falling growth; move aims to combat rising inflation, as international capital flows hit currency value
IMF's Lagarde supports negative rates in eurozone
IMF Article IV for the eurozone backs Draghi promise to keep rates low and says negative rates would support demand and ward off deflation; ECB chief concerned that financial transactions tax will hurt monetary policy efficacy
Overlooked global factors have major impact on long-term interest rates, IMF paper says
Research paper says the explanatory power of domestic variables on rates is weak compared with global fiscal and monetary policy stances
Carney's BoE shifts towards forward guidance on rates
Bank of England holds monetary policy steady, telling markets that expectations of rate rises have been premature; formal forward guidance is expected at the August meeting
ECB commits to keep interest rates down
Governing council says interest rate will remain at or below 0.5% for an ‘extended period of time’ despite previously refusing to pre-commit monetary policy
Sweden's Riksbank holds rates, but new deputy dissents
Ingves suggests the possibility of another increase in mortgage risk-weights after they were raised to a minimum of 15% in April; Riksbank estimates consumer price inflation to remain at 1% in 2013
Portuguese paper questions efficacy of fiscal policy at zero lower bound
Working paper finds that government and private consumption are substitutes when the nominal interest rate is at the zero lower bound; this reduces impact of fiscal policy on output by a third
Top Fed officials speak out to calm markets
Two Federal Reserve governors and the New York Fed president emphasise a change in monetary policy will be driven by data, not the date; further easing remains a possibility