Macroeconomic policy

Putin issues Russian economic warning

Agence France-PresseJune 10, 2013 07:32

President Vladimir Putin warned on Monday that Russia's economic growth would slow down this year to less than the world average and ordered his government to act to reverse the trend. The Kremlin chief's comments came moments after the central bank was forced to hold its main interest rate unchanged at 8.25 percent for the ninth month running in the face of inflation that has jumped to the highest rate for 21 months. Putin confirmed at a cabinet meeting that Russia's growth would slow to 2.4 percent this year from its downwardly revised forecast of 3.6 percent.

IMF says BOJ's 2% inflation target could be achieved

Kyodo News InternationalMay 31, 2013 02:18

The International Monetary Fund said Friday that the Bank of Japan's commitment to a 2 percent inflation target "could be achieved" if the government takes effective measures to bolster economic growth and restore its fiscal health, the worst among developed nations. The IMF also said in a concluding statement after its annual consultation mission to Japan that it does not consider the recent depreciation of the yen "problematic," so long as monetary easing is used to attain domestic goals such as ending prolonged deflation.

Major banks to raise mortgage rates in June on higher long-term rates

Kyodo News InternationalMay 29, 2013 23:00

Three major banks plan to raise their housing loan rates on June 1 for the second consecutive month on the back of recent rises in long-term interest rates, officials of the banks said Thursday. The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and Mizuho Bank, which raised their fixed-rate 10-year mortgages to 1.4 percent in May, are mulling hiking the rates to as high as 1.6 percent.

economy management-H2 plan

Yonhap News AgencyMay 24, 2013 03:45

SEOUL, May 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will draw up its economy management plan for the second half in consideration of possible changes in monetary policies adopted by advanced countries, the country's top economic policymaker said Friday. The remarks by Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok came after U.S. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke earlier said that the central bank could wind down its monthly bond purchase if the world's largest economy improves.

BOK-Fed policy shift

Yonhap News AgencyMay 22, 2013 02:45

(ATT: UPDATES with more info in last 2 paras) SEOUL, May 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's top central banker said Wednesday that the potential end of the U.S. Federal Reserve's massive monetary easing drive could spark risks from a rise in bond yields, raising the need to brace for impacts of such a policy shift. Speculation is growing that the Fed may slow the pace of its bond purchases this year, which probably will jack up bond yields, causing losses for bond holders such as banks and other financial institutions.

BOK-Fed policy shift

Yonhap News AgencyMay 22, 2013 01:30

SEOUL, May 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's top central banker said Wednesday that the potential end of the U.S. Federal Reserve's massive monetary easing drive could spark risks from a rise in bond yields, raising the need to brace for impacts of such a policy shift. Speculation is growing that the Fed may slow the pace of its bond purchases this year, which probably will jack up bond yields, causing losses for bond holders such as banks and other financial institutions.

"Flexible socialist" to lead Venezuela central bank

Thomson ReutersApril 23, 2013 17:15

By Marianna Parraga CARACAS (Reuters) - The nominee to lead Venezuela's central bank, Edmee Betancourt, is known as a dedicated socialist who backed the drive by late President Hugo Chavez to expand state control over the economy but who also knows when to ditch dogma for down-to-earth policy. Former colleagues of Betancourt, a low-profile former commerce minister who would be the second woman to lead the OPEC member-nation's central bank, say she could reform monetary and exchange rate policy despite her socialist convictions.

Highlights - Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney

Thomson ReutersApril 18, 2013 13:30

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The following are comments from Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney, speaking on the global economy and financial reform at a Thomson Reuters Newsmaker event on Thursday in Washington. Carney is scheduled to become governor of the Bank of England on July 1. Carney is in Washington this week for Group of 20 meetings and the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Banking. ON THE FED'S GUIDANCE:

Hungary central banker sees no "revolution" in future policy

Thomson ReutersApril 15, 2013 07:00

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary's central bank will maintain a cautious and conservative approach to policy in the coming years as it tries to revive lending and aid the economy, Deputy Governor nominee Ferenc Gerhardt told a parliamentary committee hearing on Monday. Gerhardt, a former banker who has helped pass cuts in interest rates since joining the bank's Monetary Council in March 2011, said Hungary's high debt pile, the largest in central Europe, justified further caution but efforts should be made to help the weak economy.

Different remits produce similar policies -British, U.S. central bankers

Thomson ReutersApril 12, 2013 20:30

By Jonathan Spicer BOSTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank have set monetary policy in similar ways regardless of their contrasting official mandates, top British and U.S. policymakers argued at a forum on how central banks can lower unemployment. David Miles, an external member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, on Saturday threw his weight behind an argument made a day earlier by Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren.