Monetary policy

Asian Markets Drop, Traders Brace For Fed Hike

Asia stocks mostly fell Tuesday as markets brace for a sharp United States (US) interest rate hike and similar moves by other central banks as they struggle to control inflation, with traders increasingly worried about another possible recession.Surging prices, moves to tighten monetary policy, China's COVID lockdowns, the Ukraine war and a stronger dollar have come together in recent weeks to cause a massive headache for investors, sending them running to the hills.All eyes are on the c

3 May 2022
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G20 Vows Careful Post-Pandemic Recovery: Indonesia

The world's biggest economies are committed to taking a careful approach to unwinding support introduced during the coronavirus pandemic, Indonesia said Friday at a meeting of G20 finance chiefs.Some central banks, including in the United States (US), are moving towards hiking rates and withdrawing stimulus as economies rebound strongly from COVID-induced downturns and inflation surges.But there are concerns that aggressive policy tightening could knock a fragile recovery off course, and

19 February 2022
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Five Economic Flashpoints To Beware In 2022

After the turmoil of the past two years, the consensus among economic pundits is that 2022 will be calmer. But in late 2019, when the first reports of a new coronavirus started to filter out from Wuhan in China, few imagined within months that the world economy would be flattened by a pandemic.

8 January 2022
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Will COVID-19 Kill Cash?

Four years ago, Kenneth Rogoff, a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), made a powerful case for phasing out paper money.

28 July 2020
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Global finance chiefs descend on Bali

A decade after the guardians of the world economy united to save it from depression, the scope for such shock-and-awe policies has all but dried up.It was 10 years ago on Monday that the Federal Reserve (Fed) and five fellow central banks banded together for a rare coordinated interest rate cut.

8 October 2018
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Philippine central bank plans interest rate hike

Philippine central bank Governor Nestor Espenilla laid out the case for another interest rate increase, citing broadening price pressures, tighter United States (US) monetary policy and a currency slump.While Espenilla stopped short of saying that a rate hike is on the cards on Wednesday, he said in an interview that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) aims to anchor inflation back to its target next year.

20 June 2018
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Thailand may skirt global monetary tightening until 2019

Thailand is becoming an oasis of monetary policy stability as other emerging markets scramble to raise interest rates.The country’s Finance Ministry anticipates that borrowing costs will be left at 1.5 percent this year, said Kulaya Tantitemit, a spokeswoman and an inspector general at the ministry. While an increase is possible in 2019, it won’t be steep, she said.“It wouldn’t be aggressive,” Kulaya said in an interview Wednesday, referring to a potential tightening next year.

8 June 2018
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Singapore needs to be prepared for inflation pickup

Singapore’s central bank chief said while inflation is still well below the historical average, policy makers need to be proactive if a stronger economy results in a pickup in price pressures.Inflation will climb at some point if economic growth continues to strengthen, and under those circumstances, the central bank – like others around the world – needs to be forward-looking, Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, said in an interview at the bank’s headquarter

25 October 2017
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Jokowi sees low inflation laying ground for rate cuts

Indonesia’s success in taming consumer prices provides room for lower interest rates, President Joko Widodo said, while making it clear that it was the job of the central bank to determine whether to cut.Inflation will average less than four percent this year, down from more than eight percent in 2014 when he took office, Widodo – also known as Jokowi – said in an interview at Huta Ginjang, overlooking the picturesque Lake Toba, where he had been to open a newly upgraded airport nearby.

17 October 2017
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Philippine central bank not increasing interest rates now

Philippine central bank Governor Nestor Espenilla said contained inflation means there isn’t a need to increase interest rates in the near term."Right now, there is no need to move policy rates looking at the inflation outlook," Espenilla said in Washington where he was attending the annual International Monetary Fund meetings.

16 October 2017
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Singapore's central bank expected to maintain neutral monetary policy

Singapore’s central bank is widely seen sticking to a neutral stance on Friday, but it may be moving closer to tightening policy as the economy continues to strengthen.All but one of the 23 economists surveyed by Bloomberg predict the Monetary Authority of Singapore, which uses the exchange rate rather than interest rates as its main tool, will keep its policy stance where it is: seeking no appreciation in the currency against a trading basket.Less clear is whether the MAS will signal it’s re

12 October 2017
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Weak spending stumps Indonesian policy makers

Almost four million new jobs, rising wages and eight interest-rate cuts in Indonesia should have been enough to spur consumers into action in the world’s fourth most populous nation.Instead, an increasing number of people are keeping a tight grip on their purse strings and putting their money in the bank, leaving policy makers and economists perplexed.

9 October 2017
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