Central Bank Watch
ECB
September 5, 2013
The ECB Council discussed but did not cut interest rates, which are at zero for deposits and 0.5% for refinancing. President Draghi’s introductory statement at the press conference was very similar to the one at the August 1 press conference. Recovery has arrived but Draghi was very guarded in calling the upturn very green and […] More
Central Bank Watch
Hint of Possible Future Easing from Bank Negara Malaysia
September 5, 2013
A trend reversal seems possible. 28 months have passed since the last change of Malaysia’s Overnight Policy Rate (OPR), and that move was a tightening in May 2011 and the four such move in a space of 12 months. The OPR was kept at 3.0% after today’s meeting, but a statement released by monetary officials […] More
Deeper Analysis
PMIs: Sharp Relative Improvement in the U.S. Economy Between June and August
September 5, 2013
The sum of the U.S.-minus-Euroland service-sector and manufacturing purchasing manager index spreads was a full point greater than in July 5.6 points better than in June. At 12.2 points, the U.S. enjoyed its largest advantage vis-a-vis the euro area since last March. Improvement was wholly due to non-manufacturing developments. The U.S. overall PMI of 58.6 […] More
Central Bank Watch
Bank of Japan
September 5, 2013
A comparatively short five hour 7 minute policy board meeting over two days ended with the released of an unremarkable statement that mimicked the August statement in terms of policy description (planned actions and their likely duration). There was no change in voting pattern: 9-0 in favor of continuing the quantitative easing and 8-1 rejecting […] More
Central Bank Watch
Swedish Riksbank
September 5, 2013
The six-person Executive Board again left its 1.0% repo rate unchanged in a 4-2 vote with both dissents favoring a 25-basis point rate cut now and lower future favored rate path. The majority considered by rejected the more accommodative stance. According to its latest statement, An even lower repo rate could lead to inflation attaining […] More
Central Bank Watch
Bank of England
September 5, 2013
The Monetary Policy Committee left its policy settings unchanged and released a statement that revealed nothing about the two-day meeting’s discussion or voting pattern. Minutes will be released on September 18. British PMI surveys in August were exceptionally strong, reinforcing speculation that the central bank will start to raise its 0.5% Bank Rate sooner than […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Central Bank Day
September 5, 2013
The Bank of Japan left its policy settings unchanged but expressed greater enthusiasm about the recovery’s progress. Since April, the BOJ has engaged in heavy quantitative easing to achieve a 2% inflation rate. Bank Negara Malaysia retained a 3.0% key overnight interest rate, its level since May 2011. The move was expected and made against […] More
