Central Bank Watch
FOMC Statement and Powell’s Press Conference
May 1, 2024
The FOMC statement includes two changes compared to the prior March 20th statement. An added sentence to the first paragraph reads, In recent months, there has been a lack of further progress toward the Committee’s 2 percent inflation objective. This comment follows the repeated remark that “inflation has eased over the past years but remains […] More
Deeper Analysis
April 2024 in Figures
May 1, 2024
In April, 10-year sovereign debt yields rose roughly as much, and in the U.S. case more, than in the whole first quarter. Central bank short-term interest rates were not changed in any of the central banks featured in the table below but fell by 20 percentage points in Argentina, 200 basis points in Kyrgyzstan, 100 […] More
Central Bank Watch
FOMC Preview
May 1, 2024
The Fed is in a difficult bind, partly resulting from the shift toward making policymaking more transparent. Four enormous shocks over the past two decades have eroded general confidence in all institutions of authority including the Fed: the financial crisis of 2007-8, a technology revolution that has transformed how economic and other news get received, […] More
Central Bank Watch
Rate Cuts by Central Banks in Azerbaijan and Colombia
May 1, 2024
The Central Bank of Azerbaijan, where CPI inflation of 1.0% in March was at a 111-month low and down from 13.9% touched in December 2022, the refinancing rate has been sliced by another quarter percentage point to a 29-month low of 7.25%. This was the fifth reduction since a peak of 9.0% that prevailed from […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
May Day and the FOMC
May 1, 2024
Financial markets are shut in a slew of countries — but not in the U.K., Japan or the United States — for May Day observances that extol the rights of workers. The dollar is modestly higher. Japanese officials have not confirmed nor denied yesterday’s strongly suspected intervention triggered after the yen fell to as low […] More
