Central Bank Watch
Bank of Japan Addresses Liquidity Squeeze With Several Policy Changes but Stops Short of Cutting Interest Rates Further
March 16, 2020
The Bank of Japan held an emergency Board meeting that lasted roughly two hours and then announced a number of actions clearly motivated by the approaching corporate fiscal yearend on March 31st. Unlike central banks in the U.S., South Korea, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Macau, Japanese officials did not cut their targeted interest rates […] More
Central Bank Watch
Bank of Korea’s Base Rate Reduced 50 Basis points to 0.75%
March 16, 2020
The Bank of Korea’s base rate was reduced to new record low of 0.75%. Like the Fed, Reserve Bank of New Zealand, and Monetary Authorities of Hong Kong and Macau, the BOK acted between scheduled policy meetings. Korea’s rate benchmark had been 1.25% since a pair of 25-basis point cuts in July and October of […] More
Central Bank Watch
Discount Window Base Rates cut by 64 Basis Points in Hong Kong and Macau
March 16, 2020
The interest rate policy of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority is subordinated to maintaining the Hong Kong Dollar parity against the U.S. dollar. The former British colony’s currency has been pegged at 7.8 per USD since October 1983, and this necessitates changes in the HKMA’s key interest rate whenever the FOMC’s federal funds target is […] More
Central Bank Watch
75-Basis Point Official Cash Rate Cut at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand
March 16, 2020
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand slashed its Official Cash Rate to 0.25% from 1.0%. This was the first reduction in 7 months and the ninth cut from a peak of 3.50% prior to June 2015. The action today is meant to counter the drag of the coronavirus pandemic, about which officials observed, “The negative […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Monetary Efforts to Counter Covid-19 Economic Damage All in Vain
March 16, 2020
The contagion news over the weekend was very bad. Italy suffered a bigger daily jump in deaths than even China had, and all evidence suggests that governments that did not test extensively for the virus at the first sign of trouble have brought upon their countries larger humanitarian disasters. The United States seemingly falls into […] More
