Vital Signs Series

Australian economy doing well but rate cuts loom

Apr 04, 2016 02:37 am UTC| Insights & Views Central Banks

The rising Aussie dollar gives the RBA cause for concern, credit-fuelled spending slows, and US unemployment ticks up amid growing US confidence. The basic logic of interest rate policy is that when the economy is...

Renminbi Series

PBOC discloses currency forward positions for the first time

Apr 01, 2016 14:35 pm UTC| Commentary Central Banks

PBoC for the first time disclosed its short foreign-currency positions in forwards and futures. As of end-February, it held USD28.9bn of such positions with commercial lenders and USD2.4bn worth of total long...

Digital Currency Revolution

Bitcoin Standard Would Not Last Long, Says Bank of Canada Researcher

Apr 01, 2016 10:10 am UTC| Digital Currency Central Banks

Warren E. Weber, Research Consultant, Bank of Canada, has published a new working paper that envisions a world in which countries are on the Bitcoin standard, a monetary system in which all media of exchange are Bitcoin or...

ECB move lead to record corporate bond issuance in March

Apr 01, 2016 09:16 am UTC| Commentary Central Banks

Corporations in Euro Zone are having time of their life in financing themselves as yields have dropped, after European Central Bank (ECB) announced additional bond purchase of 20 billion per month, in addition to its...

Fed Hike Aftermath Series

FED Hike Aftermath Series: Larger monetary policy divergence means lower rate hikes from FED

Mar 31, 2016 12:49 pm UTC| Commentary Central Banks

After FED chair Janet Yellen warned that policymakers need to move cautiously in hiking rates, given the current levels of low ammunitions, should the economy turn for worse. It is better to wait and hike than to move fast...

Renminbi Series: Yuan-Hibor turns negative first time ever

Mar 31, 2016 10:47 am UTC| Commentary Central Banks

Remember the Hibor? That came notoriously famous as after this Yuan based, Hong Kong interbank offered rate, in January reached 66.8% in January. At that time Peoples Bank of China (PBoC) drained Yuan liquidity from...

Fed Hike Aftermath Series

FED Hike Aftermath Series: Checking the hike odds post-Yellen

Mar 31, 2016 06:16 am UTC| Commentary Central Banks

After initial FOMC projections cut jolt, rate hike odds were fast forwarding towards June as FOMC projected two rate hikes this year. So which could be the best month to increase rates than June if the hikes to be...