BOE’S BAILEY ADMITS TO ‘CHANGING HIS POSITION;’ WON’T RULE OUT NEGATIVE LENDING RATES
By Laurie Laird LONDON (MaceNews) – Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey declined Wednesday to rule out further reductions in lending rates, admitting that he has “changed his position” on sub-zero rates since mid-March. Facing a question on negative rates posed by Felicity Buchan, a Conservative Member of Parliament serving on the Treasury Select Committee, […]
FED’S ROSENGREN: MUST NOT GIVE UP PROGRESS ON CONTAINING VIRUS IN RUSH TO REOPEN
NEW YORK (MaceNews) – U.S. economic challenges reflect public health concerns, and it’s critical that progress on containing Covid-19 not be undone as businesses and other activities reopen, Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said Tuesday. “Public health solutions are paramount – without them, it will be virtually impossible to return to full employment,” Rosengren said […]
BANK OF CANADA: FIN SYSTEM ‘RESILIENT,’ COPING W/ COVID-19, OIL SHOCKS
NEW YORK (MaceNews) – Canada’s financial system “remains resilient” in the face of Covid-19 and the oil price shock, with support from Bank of Canada policy, and strong private capital and liquidity buffers, even as the economic outlook remains uncertain, the bank said Thursday. “Strong policies have put a floor under the economy and laid […]
WHITE HOUSE WATCH COMMENTARY: FIGHTERS, HATERS AND UNSUNG HEROES
By Denny Gulino WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – There is a basic problem in news coverage of the pandemic, the fact that the virus culture wars are much more interesting than the fight against the virus itself. When President Trump calls an answer from NIH’s Tony Fauci “unacceptable” as he did Wednesday, the president’s fans are cheering […]
FED’S POWELL WARNS OF DANGERS OF LONG SHALLOW RECOVERY
–Emergency Aid So Far May Be Only the Beginning –‘Recovery May Take Some Time to Gather Momentum’ — ‘Additional Fiscal Support Could Be Costly’ –Negative Rates ‘Not Something That We’re Looking At.” By Denny Gulino WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The battle of recovery narratives – swift and sharp versus shallow and long – Wednesday saw one […]
FED’S HARKER: FED TO KEEP RATES LOW UNTIL A ‘DEMONSTRABLE MOVE’ TOWARD NORMAL ECONOMY
By Jon Hurdle PHILADELPHIA (MaceNews) – Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Patrick Harker said on Tuesday that interest rates will remain low until policy-makers see clear evidence that the economy is recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic. “We have committed in the FOMC to move rates to essentially zero. The Fed Funds rate is between zero and […]
ST. LOUIS FED’S BULLARD: US ECONOMIC REBOUND LIKELY IN 2H; NO NEGATIVE RATES
NEW YORK (MaceNews) – After its record drop in the second quarter, the US economy is likely to see a record rebound in the third quarter, St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said Tuesday. Bullard, answering questions during a webcast, said a record rebound in the third quarter is likely, a “big plus number,” […]
US TREASURY TO LIFT AUCTION SIZES TO MEET MASSIVE BORROWING NEED
By Kevin Kastner WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The U.S. Treasury plans to raise the sizes of all its nominal securities auctions to meet the pressing fiscal need of the COVID-19 crisis, their quarterly refunding statement released on Wednesday showed. On Monday, Treasury had announced that it expected to borrow $3 trillion in the current quarter, much […]
CHICAGO FED’S EVANS: ‘REASONABLE’ TO EXPECT RECOVERY BY 2H 2020, BUT LOOKING ‘QUARTER BY QUARTER’
By Suzanne Cosgrove CHICAGO (MaceNews) – After a sharp contraction in the first half, it is “reasonable” to expect the US economy to pick up in the second half of 2020, Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans said Tuesday. In a media conference call, Evans cautioned that he would have to evaluate economic conditions […]
ECB SEES POSSIBLE 15% SLUMP IN Q2; LEAVES RATES ON HOLD
By Laurie Laird LONDON (MaceNews) – The European Central Bank expanded its emergency liquidity program following Thursday’s governing council meeting, but declined to reduce interest rates, despite the eurozone suffering its biggest-ever downturn in the first quarter. “We are facing an economic contraction of a magnitude and speed … unprecedented in peacetime,” said ECB President […]