Banking

Bloomberg The German economic upswing is reaching an “increasingly mature state,” according to the Bundesbank. The Frankfurt-based institution lifted its projections for growth in Europe’s largest economy through 2019 and said it expects momentum to remain strong over the coming year, before moderating in the medium term. The Bundesbank sees inflation accelerating to 1.9 percent in 2020, with energy costs ...

Bloomberg A new dissenter on the Bank of Japan board calling for more stimulus has prompted the BOJ to adjust its communications to flag risks of additional eas- ing, according to people familiar with the central bank’s discussions. The change in messaging could explain why some investors wrongly interpreted Governor Haruhiko Kuroda’s recent comments on the “reversal rate” theory as ...

Bloomberg Not everyone is convinced that the European Central Bank will be able to move as slowly as it wants on the path away from extraordinary stimulus. At least six banks including Nomura International Plc and Barclays Plc predict that President Mario Draghi will raise interest rates as soon as next year. While those forecasts are outliers — most investors ...

Bloomberg A small economy that’s constantly battling risks beyond its control like typhoons and oil prices has been one of the most successful in managing inflation in Asia. The Philippine central bank, which has an annual inflation target that’s currently set at 2 percent to 4 percent, met its goal six times in the past eight years and the two ...

Bloomberg Banks in Norway, Scandinavia’s most prosperous economy, are among the best capitalised in Europe thanks to rules that are considerably stricter than those recommended by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. Now, the bankers’ association in Oslo is hoping local authorities will ease Norwegian requirements after the Basel Committee sent out its completed framework last week. But Norwegian banks ...

Bloomberg Polish central bank Governor Adam Glapinski makes up in bravado what he lacks in evidence. Glapinski was unapologetic last week when confronted with figures that showed price pressures on the rise and inflation unexpectedly on target months earlier than forecast. In fact, Glapinski said the data “even reinforced” his conviction that the country’s longest-ever pause on interest rates can ...

Bloomberg India’s inflation surged past the central bank’s target, bolstering a view that interest rates may rise earlier than expected and offering little relief to battered bond markets. Consumer prices rose 4.9 percent in November from a year earlier as food and fuel costs surged, the Statistics Ministry said in a statement. That’s the fastest pace in 15 months and ...

Bloomberg Wall Street economists are telling investors to brace for the biggest tightening of monetary policy in more than a decade. With the world economy heading into its strongest period since 2011, Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. predict average interest rates across advanced economies will climb to at least 1 percent next year in what would be the ...

Bloomberg Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc is likely to leave its bonus pool little changed this year, according to people with knowledge of the matter, ending a spate of annual declines in payouts dating back to the financial crisis. A final decision on the discretionary awards hasn’t been made and will be taken in January, one of the people ...

MANAMA / Emirates Business Ithmaar Bank, a Bahrain-based Islamic retail bank, was honoured at a ceremony attended by senior bankers from across the Middle East after it was named Best Islamic Retail Bank in Bahrain. Ithmaar Bank was presented the prestigious award following a comprehensive selection and review process conducted by a committee of high-level economists and banking professionals, as ...