Central Bank Watch
Turkish Monetary Policy Unchanged
June 17, 2010
The one-week repo rate of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey was held at 7.0% as expected, and a statement from the monetary authorities had a somewhat dovish tone. It reiterates that present policy may be retained “for some time” and low rates could be maintained “for a long period of time.” Until […] More
Larry's Blog
Summertime Thoughts
June 17, 2010
Wide disagreement persists over what caused the Great Recession and how to reestablish sustainable long-term growth that puts unused labor back to work. Global growth remains very uneven and fraught with imbalances that make economic convalescence very fragile. A great fear is that eroded living standards in advanced economies is on a course with no […] More
Deeper Analysis
How the First-Quarter U.S. Current Account Deficit Was Funded
June 17, 2010
The Commerce Department release of quarterly U.S. international transactions, the most comprehensive snapshot of the balance of payments, contains several pieces of dollar-supporting news. The current account deficit, $109.0 billion, was about $10 billion smaller than expected. That sum was equal to 3.0% of GDP, similar to ratios of 2.8% in the prior quarter and […] More
Central Bank Watch
Swiss National Bank Quarterly Policy Review
June 17, 2010
The 0.25% target for 3-month Swiss Libor within a 0.0-0.75% range has been extended for another three months. This decision was expected. In response to the world and domestic recession, the SNB had cut the target five times by a total of 250 basis points between October 2008 and March 2009. There were reductions of […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Swiss Franc Spikes Higher After Quarterly Monetary Policy Review
June 17, 2010
The Swissy advanced 1.5% against the dollar and to a new high for the move of 1.375 per euro. The U.S. dollar also lost 0.5% against the euro, 0.4% versus the New Zealand dollar and sterling, and 0.2% relative to the Aussie dollar and yen. Against the Canadian dollar, the greenback edged up 0.1%. Stocks […] More
