National Bank of Belarus
In December The Bank of Japan Surprised Markets with a Policy Tweak; Failure to Tweak Further This Month Also Caught Investors by Surprise
January 18, 2023
Investors had assumed that last month’s doubling of the daily cap on the 10-year Japanese government bond yield to 0.50% was not, as then claimed, a mere technical tweak of the policy of yield curve control meant to enhance market functionality but rather an initial start to exiting the policy altogether. This month’s BOJ policy […] More
Escalating Financial and Political Chaos in Ukraine and Russia, and Rest of World Feeling Pain, Too
February 28, 2022
Ukrainian and Russian talks in Belarus are unlikely to defuse the military conflict. Russian President Putin seeks to replace Ukraine’s government and has insinuated that he may use nuclear weapons if Nato doesn’t back off. In this high stakes game game of chicken, Nato allies seek to decapitate the Russian ruble and financial markets and […] More
More European Data, More Covid Cases, and FOMC Minutes
July 7, 2021
The dollar shows modest overnight gains of 0.2% against the euro and sterling and 0.1% relative to the yen and Swiss franc. Larger advances have occurred against the Australian and New Zealand currencies and the Mexican peso. Equities closed down 1.0% in Japan, 1.5% in Singapore, 0.6% in South Korea, and 0.4% in Hong Kong […] More
Central Bank Interest Rate Hike in Belarus
April 14, 2021
Accelerating inflation was uppermost on the minds of policymakers at the National Bank of Belarus, who today announced a 75-basis point hike in their refinancing rate to 8.5%. During the first half of 2020, the rate had been cut 25 basis points in Jranuary, 75 bps in May and 25 bps in June to a […] More
Awaiting U.S. Import Prices, Jay Powell’s Speech and Fed’s Beige Book
April 14, 2021
The dollar fell 0.7% overnight against the New Zealand dollar and 0.5% relative to the Turkish lira and Australian dollar. But more senior dollar relationships such as the euro, yen, Swiss franc, sterling, and yuan, the dollar is barely changed and down just 0.1% in weighted terms. For the first time in years, markets have […] More
Softer Dollar, Share Prices, and Sovereign Debt Yields
June 22, 2020
The upswing of global and U.S. Covid-19 infections accelerated over the weekend. Global cases moved above 9 million people, and U.S. deaths from the disease climbed above 122 thousand. The Trump rally in Oklahoma attracted fewer people than anticipated, in part reflecting fear of catching the virus. Street protests in American cities continued. The dollar […] More
