Central Bank Watch
Central Bank of Chile
February 12, 2015
Chile’s central bank interest rate was left at 3.0% after this month’s policy meeting. It was cut eight times between January 2012 and September 2014, falling from 5.0% to the current level. But inflation lately has been simply to high in Chile for monetary officials to proceed further. January’s 4.5% on-year pace surpassed private-sector forecasts […] More
Central Bank Watch
Bank of England Quarterly Inflation Report
February 12, 2015
British CPI inflation fell to 0.5% in December and has been below the Bank of England’s medium-term target since January 2014. One needs to go back to 2000 to find an inflation rate as low as now, and the latest quarterly Inflation Report released today by the Bank of England opines that sub-zero inflation could […] More
Central Bank Watch
Swedish Riksbank Adopts Negative Interest Rate to Counter Too Low Inflation
February 12, 2015
The Swedish Riksbank’s repo rate has been cut from zero to -0.1%. In addition, plans were unveiled to do SEK 10 billion of quantitative easing via the purchase of one-to-five year government bonds, and officials announced their readiness to do more if needed and not be tied down to changing policy only at scheduled Board […] More
Central Bank Watch
National Bank of Serbia
February 12, 2015
Three Serbian central bank interest rate cut occurred last year — each by 50 basis points in May, June and November. The Executive Board’s CPI target is 2.5-3.5%, and sub-target inflation of 1.7% now reflect what officials consider temporary disinflationary factors. In a statement released today,they consider a return to in-target inflation likely by mid-2015 […] More
Central Bank Watch
Central Bank of The Philippines Keeps Policy Interest Rates Unchanged
February 12, 2015
The last two interest rate changes at Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, each a hike of 25 basis points, were done last July and September. These were the first tightenings of policy since May 2011. There had been four cuts in 2012 and no changes in 2013. Since September, the overnight borrowing rate has been 4.0%, […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Continuing Euro Support above $1.1300
February 12, 2015
The euro rose 0.2% against the dollar. Despite persistent concerns about Grexit — Greece abandoning the common European currency or being thrown out by other members — the euro, now at $1.1342, repeatedly finds support whenever it dips under $1.13. Greek debt talks have made very little progress. They will resume next Monday, with creditors […] More