Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week
A Strong Dollar Is in the Best Interest of Everybody Else
September 11, 2014
In the mid-1990s, former U.S. Treasury Secretary popularized the phrase that “a strong dollar is in the best interest of the United States.” What he meant was that if the dollar is expected to appreciate, it will suppress actual and expected U.S. inflation, reduce long-term interest rates, promote business spending and direct investment inflows by […] More
Central Bank Watch
Filipino Monetary Board Hikes Policy Rates Anew by 25 Basis Points
September 11, 2014
At Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the key overnight borrowing and lending rates were raised for the second time since late July by 25 basis points to 4.0% and 6.0%. The Special Deposit Account Rate was likewise increased as well, but reserve requirements were not changed. Prior to the July 31 increase, the key overnight rates […] More
Central Bank Watch
Bank Indonesia: Nothing New at This Month’s Policy Meeting
September 11, 2014
The statement released after the September meeting of Bank Indonesia’s Board of Governors doesn’t break fresh ground. 175 basis points worth of increase in the BI interest rate from June to October of 2013 are believed to be “steering inflation toward the target to 4.5 ± 1% in 2014 and 4 ± 1% in 2015, […] More
Central Bank Watch
National Bank of Serbia: No Rate Change
September 11, 2014
For a third straight meeting of the Executive Board following back-to-back 50-basis point interest rate cuts on May 8 and June 12, Serbia’s key policy interest rate was left at 8.5%. A released statement stressed uncertainties such as elevated geopolitical tension and the coming shift in Fed policy, which have the potential to weaken Serbia’s […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Australian Labor Market Shocker, Chinese Price Data, and Four Central Bank Decisions
September 11, 2014
Australian employment shot up by a record 121,000 workers in August, propelled by a 106.7K advance in part-time positions. The Jobless rate fell for the first time since April and to 6.1% from 6.4%, while the labor participation rate climbed 0.4 percentage points to a 16-month high of 65.2%. Analysts had projected only an 18K […] More
