European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde, while presenting at an Online Summit organised by the European Business Leaders' Convention, said that we probably have passed the lowest point of the crisis. Additional quotes: Still cautious because of the second wave of infections. Economic recovery will be a complicated matter. Recovery will be incomplete, maybe transformational. We have to use all available policy levers on monetary and fiscal front. This crisis is worse than the 2008-09 financial crisis. The ECB mandate is the same i.e. focus on price stability. The comments...
At its March monetary policy meeting on Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cut its official cash rate (OCR) by 25bps to a record low of 0.50%, as they weighed in the coronavirus outbreak risks. According to the latest Reuters poll, a majority of the 35 economists polled expected the central bank to maintain the status quo. RBA Interest Rate Decision is announced by the Reserve Bank of Australia. If the RBA is hawkish about the inflationary outlook of the economy and rises the interest rates it is positive, or bullish, for the AUD. Likewise, if the RBA has a dovish view on the...
Federal Reserve officials and the central banks staff said the U.S. economy seemed stronger in late January than they had expected, according to minutes of their late-January meeting released Wednesday. The risks to the outlook were more favorable than had appeared at their meeting in mid-December. There were concerns expressed during their discussions about the threat of the coronavirus outbreak in China, and also of tensions in the Middle East. The Fed staffs projection for U.S. GDP growth was stronger at the January meeting than in the previous forecast. The staff also said that...
Australias central bank reviewed the case for a further interest-rate cut, but decided against it in order to avoid encouraging additional borrowing as house prices climb, minutes of its Feb. 4 meeting in Sydney showed. The Reserve Bank also expects the coronavirus outbreak to œsubtract from growth in exports over the first half of 2020, the minutes released Tuesday showed. It acknowledged it was œdifficult to assess potential indirect effects on activity from the epidemic and devastating wildfires over summer as data were yet to be published. Yet while maintaining...
Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, has said that the bank is ready to use Quantitative Easing (QE) and also forward guidance "aggressively" in a downturn. Powell is testifying before the Senate's Banking Committee in Washington. The US dollar has been edging higher alonside higher bond yields. He added that the US spending on healthcare is excessive and that he would be concerned about the level of US debt “ that needs to grow at a slower pace than the economy. Housing affordability is also an issue despite it doing better. On trade, the central banker has said that lower...
The low interest rate environment adds to the government's fiscal policy, Bank of England (BoE) Governor Mark Carney said on Tuesday in his speech before the Economic Affairs Committee. "Low interest rate environment is putting some pressure on UK bank margins but should be kept in perspective," Carney added. "Public infrastructure and corporate investment will be necessary to get the UK out of low growth, low interest rate environment," Carney further explained. The British pound weakened slightly against its major rivals in the last minutes and the GBP/USD pair was last seen trading at...
The most important data for the U.S. economy right now are the "medical metrics around the coronavirus pandemic, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Sunday night in broadcast remarks...
At its March monetary policy meeting on Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cut its official cash rate (OCR) by 25bps to a record low of 0.50%, as they weighed in the coronavirus outbreak...