{"id":36239,"date":"2013-02-16T07:10:19","date_gmt":"2013-02-16T12:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/countingpips.com\/forex-news\/?p=36239"},"modified":"2013-02-16T07:10:21","modified_gmt":"2013-02-16T12:10:21","slug":"monetary-policy-week-in-review-feb-16-2013-rates-steady-in-11-of-12-banks-as-growth-prospects-improve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/2013\/02\/16\/monetary-policy-week-in-review-feb-16-2013-rates-steady-in-11-of-12-banks-as-growth-prospects-improve\/","title":{"rendered":"Monetary Policy Week in Review \u2013 Feb. 16, 2013: Rates steady in 11 of 12 banks as growth prospects improve"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By <a href=\"http:\/\/www.centralbanknews.info\/\"><u>www.CentralBankNews.info<\/u><\/a>        <!--[if gte mso 9]&gt;   0  0  1  406  2315  PNCN  19  5  2716  14.0     &lt;![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]&gt;   Normal  0          false  false  false    EN-US  JA  X-NONE                                                                       &lt;![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]&gt;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    &lt;![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]&gt; \/* Style Definitions *\/ table.MsoNormalTable  {mso-style-name:\"Table Normal\";  mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;  mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;  mso-style-noshow:yes;  mso-style-priority:99;  mso-style-parent:\"\";  mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;  mso-para-margin:0in;  mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;  mso-pagination:widow-orphan;  font-size:12.0pt;  font-family:Cambria;  mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;  mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;  mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;  mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} &lt;![endif]-->   <!--StartFragment--> <\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\">&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Last week 12 central banks took monetary policy decisions with just one bank (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.centralbanknews.info\/2013\/02\/georgia-cuts-rate-by-50-bps-as.html\" target=\"_blank\">Georgia<\/a>) cutting rates while the other 11 central banks kept rates unchanged (Mozambique, Indonesia, Russia, Ghana, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.centralbanknews.info\/2013\/02\/armenia-holds-rate-steady-sees.html\" target=\"_blank\">Armenia<\/a>, Sweden, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.centralbanknews.info\/2013\/02\/botswana-holds-rate-steady-inflation.html\" target=\"_blank\">Botswana<\/a>, Japan, Korea, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.centralbanknews.info\/2013\/02\/sri-lanka-holds-rate-economy-moving-to.html\" target=\"_blank\">Sri Lanka<\/a> and Chile), reinforcing this year\u2019s trend toward stable policy rates after last year\u2019s hectic pace of monetary easing.<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Through the first seven weeks of this year, 77 percent of 65 policy decisions taken by the 90 banks covered by Central Bank News have resulted in unchanged interest rates while 18 percent have resulted in rate cuts.<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\">&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;This compares with 73 percent of decisions in favor of steady rates after six weeks and 21 percent of decisions in favour of rate cuts.<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The global economy, and thus the prospect for exports, was seen as steadily improving by central banks in Indonesia, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.centralbanknews.info\/2013\/02\/korea-holds-rate-sees-low-inflation.html\" target=\"_blank\">Korea<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.centralbanknews.info\/2013\/02\/sweden-keeps-rate-sees-low-rate-till-14.html\" target=\"_blank\">Sweden<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.centralbanknews.info\/2013\/02\/chile-keeps-rate-inflation-expectations.html\" target=\"_blank\">Chile<\/a> and Japan. A recent rise in global financial markets reflects a similar view of stronger growth.<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; But optimism is still tempered by lingering uncertainty from the euro area\u2019s fiscal and financial crises and U.S. efforts to cut its deficit and debt.<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.centralbanknews.info\/2013\/02\/boj-pursues-aggressive-easing-but.html\" target=\"_blank\">The Bank of Japan<\/a>, which has been grappling with deflation and sluggish growth for almost 20 years, said its economy appears to have stopped weakening but it will still have to pursue aggressive monetary easing to boost activity and inflation.<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A pickup in China\u2019s economic activity was specifically cited by both <a href=\"http:\/\/www.centralbanknews.info\/2013\/02\/indonesia-holds-rate-steady-risk-to.html\" target=\"_blank\">Indonesia<\/a> and Chile as helping growth, illustrating the importance of demand from China to exports from countries worldwide.<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Interestingly, three of the 11 central banks that raised interest rates in 2012 took policy decisions last week. Sri Lanka\u2019s policy tightening appears to have paid off with credit growth easing while growth prospects in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.centralbanknews.info\/2013\/02\/ghana-keeps-rate-on-balanced-risks-to.html\" target=\"_blank\">Ghana <\/a>are improving.<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Russia, however, is still grappling with inflation that is expected to continue last year\u2019s trend and remain above the bank\u2019s target in the first half of this year. The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.centralbanknews.info\/2013\/02\/russia-holds-rate-steady-warns-of.html\" target=\"_blank\">Bank of Russia<\/a> fears this could become entrenched in inflationary expectations, denting its hard-won inflation fighting credibility. <\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Both Russia and Japan will be appointing new central bank governors in coming weeks, decisions that will be closely scrutinized by financial markets. Both central banks have been criticized for dragging their feet and not doing enough to boost economic growth.<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Heavy rains in recent weeks affected food production across many countries in the Southern Hemisphere, pushing up inflation in Indonesia, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.centralbanknews.info\/2013\/02\/mozambique-holds-rate-ready-to-ease.html\" target=\"_blank\">Mozambique<\/a> and Sri Lanka.<\/div>\n<p><!--[if gte mso 9]&gt;   0  0  1  7  43  PNCN  1  1  49  14.0     &lt;![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]&gt;   Normal  0          false  false  false    EN-US  JA  X-NONE                                                                       &lt;![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]&gt;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    &lt;![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]&gt; \/* Style Definitions *\/ table.MsoNormalTable  {mso-style-name:\"Table Normal\";  mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;  mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;  mso-style-noshow:yes;  mso-style-priority:99;  mso-style-parent:\"\";  mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;  mso-para-margin:0in;  mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;  mso-pagination:widow-orphan;  font-size:12.0pt;  font-family:Cambria;  mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;  mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;  mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;  mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} &lt;![endif]-->   <!--StartFragment--> <\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\"><b>LAST WEEK\u2019S (WEEK 7) MONETARY POLICY DECISIONS<\/b>:<\/div>\n<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse;width: 505px\"><!--StartFragment--> <\/p>\n<col style=\"width: 155pt\" width=\"155\"><\/col>\n<col style=\"width: 41pt\" width=\"41\"><\/col>\n<col style=\"width: 95pt\" width=\"95\"><\/col>\n<col style=\"width: 101pt\" width=\"101\"><\/col>\n<col style=\"width: 113pt\" width=\"113\"><\/col>\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 20.0pt\">\n<td class=\"xl64\" height=\"20\" style=\"height: 20.0pt;width: 155pt\" width=\"155\">COUNTRY<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"width: 41pt\" width=\"41\">MSCI<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"width: 95pt\" width=\"95\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;   NEW RATE&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"width: 101pt\" width=\"101\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; OLD RATE<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"width: 113pt\" width=\"113\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 1 YEAR AGO<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 20.0pt\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" height=\"20\" style=\"height: 20.0pt\">MOZAMBIQUE<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\"><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">9.50%<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">9.50%<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">15.00%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 20.0pt\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" height=\"20\" style=\"height: 20.0pt\">INDONESIA<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\">EM<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">5.75%<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">5.75%<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">5.75%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 20.0pt\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" height=\"20\" style=\"height: 20.0pt\">RUSSIA<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\">EM<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">8.25%<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">8.25%<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">8.00%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 20.0pt\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" height=\"20\" style=\"height: 20.0pt\">GHANA<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\"><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">15.00%<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">15.00%<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">13.50%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 20.0pt\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" height=\"20\" style=\"height: 20.0pt\">GEORGIA<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\"><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">4.75%<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">5.25%<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">6.50%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 20.0pt\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" height=\"20\" style=\"height: 20.0pt\">ARMENIA<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\"><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">8.00%<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">8.00%<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">8.00%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 20.0pt\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" height=\"20\" style=\"height: 20.0pt\">SWEDEN<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\">DM<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">1.00%<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">1.00%<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">1.50%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 20.0pt\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" height=\"20\" style=\"height: 20.0pt\">BOTSWANA<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\"><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">9.50%<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">9.50%<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">9.50%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 20.0pt\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" height=\"20\" style=\"height: 20.0pt\">JAPAN<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\">DM<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">0.10%<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">0.10%<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">0.10%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 20.0pt\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" height=\"20\" style=\"height: 20.0pt\">SOUTH KOREA<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\">EM<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">2.75%<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">2.75%<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">3.25%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 20.0pt\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" height=\"20\" style=\"height: 20.0pt\">SRI LANKA<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\">FM<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">7.50%<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">7.50%<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">7.50%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 20.0pt\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" height=\"20\" style=\"height: 20.0pt\">CHILE&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\">EM<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">5.00%<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">5.00%<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">5.00%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<p><!--EndFragment--><\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\">&nbsp;<span style=\"font-family: inherit\">Next week (week 8) looks quiet, with only three emerging market central banks scheduled to meet: Turkey, Thailand and Colombia.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\">\n<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse;width: 505px\"><!--StartFragment--> <\/p>\n<col style=\"width: 155pt\" width=\"155\"><\/col>\n<col style=\"width: 41pt\" width=\"41\"><\/col>\n<col style=\"width: 95pt\" width=\"95\"><\/col>\n<col style=\"width: 101pt\" width=\"101\"><\/col>\n<col style=\"width: 113pt\" width=\"113\"><\/col>\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 20.0pt\">\n<td class=\"xl64\" height=\"20\" style=\"height: 20.0pt;width: 155pt\" width=\"155\">COUNTRY<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"width: 41pt\" width=\"41\">MSCI<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"width: 95pt\" width=\"95\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; MEETING&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"width: 101pt\" width=\"101\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; RATE<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl64\" style=\"width: 113pt\" width=\"113\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 1 YEAR AGO<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 20.0pt\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" height=\"20\" style=\"height: 20.0pt\">TURKEY<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\">EM<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl66\">19-Feb<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">5.50%<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">5.75%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 20.0pt\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" height=\"20\" style=\"height: 20.0pt\">THAILAND<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\">EM<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl66\">20-Feb<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">2.75%<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">3.00%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 20.0pt\">\n<td class=\"xl63\" height=\"20\" style=\"height: 20.0pt\">COLOMBIA<\/td>\n<td class=\"xl63\">EM<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl66\">22-Feb<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">4.00%<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\" class=\"xl65\">5.25%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<p><!--EndFragment--><\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-family: inherit\">&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.centralbanknews.info\/\">www.CentralBankNews.info<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<p><!--EndFragment--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By www.CentralBankNews.info &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Last week 12 central banks took monetary policy decisions with just one bank (Georgia) cutting rates while the other 11 central banks kept rates unchanged (Mozambique, Indonesia, Russia, Ghana, Armenia, Sweden, Botswana, Japan, Korea, Sri Lanka and Chile), reinforcing this year\u2019s trend toward stable policy rates after last year\u2019s hectic pace of &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/2013\/02\/16\/monetary-policy-week-in-review-feb-16-2013-rates-steady-in-11-of-12-banks-as-growth-prospects-improve\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Monetary Policy Week in Review \u2013 Feb. 16, 2013: Rates steady in 11 of 12 banks as growth prospects improve&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36239\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}