Central Bank Watch
ECB Press Conference Sows Return to Chaos
August 2, 2012
The ECB did worse than nothing today, and one is left to conclude that the result was intentional and born out of extreme frustration with the foot-dragging of politicians to “push ahead with fiscal consolidation, structural reform and European institution-building with great determination,” that is with extreme dispatch. The only way to motivate governments is […] More
Central Bank Watch
Czech National Bank Left 2-Week Repo Rate at Record Low of 0.50%
August 2, 2012
From May 6, 2010 until June 28 of this year, the key Czech central bank interest rate had been at 0.75%. It got to that level via a series of eight reductions totaling 300 basis points between August 2008 and May 2010. With three dissents out of seven Bank Board members, monetary officials agreed to […] More
Central Bank Watch
Romanian Monetary Policy Left Unchanged This Month
August 2, 2012
Officials at the National Bank of Romania cut their policy interest rate four times by 25 basis points each between November 2011 and March 2012 but have made no further subsequent adjustment. The rate level remains 5.25% after this week’s meeting, and it represents a cyclical low. Five cuts totaling 225 bps were implemented in […] More
Central Bank Watch
Bank of England: No Further Change this Month
August 2, 2012
The Bank of England in June embarked on a 3-month GBP 50 billion expansion of its asset purchase plan to GBP 375 and did not make any further policy changes today. A new quarterly Inflation Report on August 9 and minutes of this week’s meeting out August 15 will provide background to today’s decision. As […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Waiting to See What Mr. Draghi Announces
August 2, 2012
All eyes are on the ECB press conference, which starts at 12:30 GMT. The dollar has slipped by 0.6% against the kiwi, 0.5% versus the Swissie and Aussie dollar, 0.4% relative to the euro, 0.3% against the yen, 0.2% versus the loonie and 0.1% against sterling. The Chinese yuan held steady overnight. After dropping in […] More
