Australia
RBA’s Kent seeks to explain divergent labour and growth outcomes
Assistant governor says range of factors may have contributed to a unexpectedly strong performance of Australian unemployment, even as growth remains subdued
RBA’s Lowe weighs impact of wealth redistribution
Growth in land and house prices has raised and redistributed wealth in Australia, with implications for monetary policy and financial stability
RBA’s Ellis is grateful lending standards to first-time buyers have not eased
Head of financial stability tells standing committee the prevalence of investors in the housing market could be pricing aspiring first-time buyers out of a move, but only ‘at the margin’
Stevens says RBA is working to ‘assess and contain’ housing risks
Statement following decision to hold rates notes house prices rising ‘strongly’ in Sydney, although growth is uneven between regions; other assets also buoyed by low rate environment
Guy Debelle to lead BIS’s work on global forex code
New working group under the auspices of the BIS’s Markets Committee aims to create a global code of conduct for the foreign exchange market, with RBA assistant governor as chair
RBA’s Stevens wants reforms framed as positive narrative
Glenn Stevens argues the average citizen cares about economic potential, and reforms should be presented ‘as a positive narrative’ for growth
Apra toughens mortgage risk weights for Australian banks
Australian regulator's move to end era of low home loan risk weights helps push banks toward top quartile for capital ratio
Stevens: global financial conditions remain ‘very accommodative’
Reserve Bank of Australia governor points to steady financial conditions and borrowing rates despite market fluctuations associated with China and Greece; RBA holds cash rate
Glenn Stevens sees limits to central bank communication
Reserve Bank of Australia governor argues central banks cannot communicate its response to ‘all possible future states of the world’ and the audience is only after a ‘simple story’ anyway
Aussie sovereign wealth fund readies for lower future returns
Australia's Future Fund has adopted a flexible approach to deal with a challenging yield environment
RBA minutes note mixed signals for policy
Slight slowdown globally and nervousness over Greece and US rates offset by ‘solid’ lending growth, stronger employment and improved sentiment
RBA’s Kent says transmission mechanism seems to be weathering shocks
‘Headwinds’ are working against the Australian economy but the evidence implies the monetary transmission mechanism ‘is about as effective as usual’, assistant governor says
RBA’s Stevens says infrastructure project could help solve growth problems
Governor sees limits to monetary policy and urges government to fill the void by maintaining spending and launching a long-run infrastructure plan
Qualified support for central clearing of repos in Australia
RBA consultation attracts general support from market participants, but respondents say benefits rely crucially on strong take-up – the same issue that ended Australia’s last repo CCP experiment
RBA deputy governor shares lessons on collective investment vehicles
Philip Lowe discusses the risks associated with maturity transformation in the country’s growing asset management industry; says disruptions can be managed
Minutes show RBA could still ease further
Board members feel the decision to drop guidance that further easing ‘may be appropriate’ does not limit the ‘scope’ for them to cut rates further
RBA’s Lowe wary of structural adjustment in global interest rates
Australian deputy governor expects rates on offer to savers to pick up when confidence grows and businesses compete for funds again, but sees potential for structural shift as well
RBA paper unpacks central bank’s DSGE model
Authors shed light on adapted DSGE model used in Australia, emphasising its deliberate simplicity so additional features can be bolted on as needed
RBA paper builds new model of banks’ credit losses
Model draws on new dataset and focuses on interactions between portfolio-level and macro variables in attempt to explain historical bank credit losses in Australia
Opposition from big banks to RBA interchange fee curb
Large commercial banks and payments providers warn of damaging impact of regulating interchange fees, but smaller challenger payment systems are broadly in favour
Lift-off for ASX Aussie dollar swap clearing business
Volumes jump in the first three months of the year following revamp of Sydney bourse's clearing incentive scheme
RBA paper finds high social cost to counterfeiting
Researchers try to put a figure on how much counterfeit banknotes cost the economy; Australian economy suffers from lower counterfeiting than elsewhere
Australian dollar jumps despite RBA rate cut
Australian central bank cuts benchmark interest rate to 2%; governor Stevens says currency depreciation 'necessary' amid falling terms of trade
Stevens cautious on bail-in efficacy
Reserve Bank of Australia governor says bail-in is subject to a ‘host’ of complexities that could mean it goes less smoothly in practice than regulators would like to believe