April, 2019

• 28 April

  India’s secret stimulus should be a warning sign

  

  India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has an election to fight. So naturally, his government is touting statistics that show 7 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the fiscal year that ended last month, despite skepticism from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) among others. As for jobs, the official version is that since there’s such high growth in output, they ...

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• 28 April

  Why central banks in Asia region can’t pull the trigger

  

  Asia’s central bankers should consider themselves lucky: Unlike their counterparts in the West – with a few exceptions – they have the scope to combat an economic downturn and low inflation through traditional tools. What they may lack, though, is the will to use those assets en masse rather than the ad hoc efforts to date. India made a surprise ...

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• 28 April

  London’s road-blocking protesters will not stop

  

  Measured by attention received, or noise made, London’s climate change protests have been a rousing success over the past week. As ever, there are doubts about whether the campaign of civil disobedience will make any real difference; but it does pose questions about the limits of democratic politics in the age of legislative gridlock. With their banners, their graffiti, their ...

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• 28 April

  Investors brace for big week of insights into world economy

  

  Bloomberg The world economy’s ability to rebound from its recent soft patch will be tested anew as data is released from Washington to Beijing. Federal Reserve officials conclude a meeting on Wednesday amid expectations they won’t change their monetary policy settings as counterparts elsewhere follow its dovish turn. A press conference by Chairman Jerome Powell will be eyed for insights ...

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• 28 April

  Funds turn bullish on worst-performing New Zealand dollar

  

  Bloomberg These are troubling times for the New Zealand dollar but a whiff of optimism is in the air. The kiwi has been the worst-performing major currency over the past month, tumbling 3.6 percent, after the central bank said the next policy move was likely to be an interest-rate cut. Disappointing first-quarter inflation numbers helped speed its decline. The double ...

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• 28 April

  Central banks’ club of caution grows as bad news piles up

  

  Bloomberg Three months since the Federal Reserve put US interest rates on a prolonged pause, more and more central bankers around the world are getting nervous about tightening monetary policy. Policy makers across Asia, Europe and North America shifted their tones, with Sweden and Canada among them. The caution came in a week of fresh pessimism on the global outlook ...

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• 28 April

  Philippines rate cut a matter of timing as oil rises, says governor

  

  Bloomberg Philippines central bank Governor Benjamin Diokno said it is only a matter of timing as to when monetary policy is eased after last year’s series of interest-rate increases, even as authorities closely monitor oil prices. A rate cut at the May 9 policy meeting will depend on key data and the outlook on El Nino weather, Diokno said in ...

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• 28 April

  RBS slides on Brexit impact warning

  

  Bloomberg Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Group Plc tumbled after the state-backed lender said Britain’s slowing economy is likely to bite into income over the coming months. The bank’s shares fell as much as seven percent after it sounded the strongest warning yet on the impact of Brexit this year. The note of caution overshadowed the bank posting a better-than-expected ...

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• 28 April

  RBI ordered to disclose critical reports on banks

  

  Bloomberg India’s top court directed the central bank to disclose its inspection reports on lend-ers to allow people to gauge their health. The order was the “last opportunity” to avoid initiation of contempt proceedings against Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice L.N. Rao ruled. The central bank will ...

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• 28 April

  Danske crisis: The blowback from putting ‘$230b’ in headline

  

  Bloomberg The financial regulator at the epicenter of Europe’s vast dirty money scandal says a key part of what really happened has been misunderstood. Danske Bank A/S became the modern-day poster child for Russian money laundering after it published a report in September that revealed a shocking number: $230 billion. Jesper Berg, the director general of the Financial Supervisory Authority ...

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