Bank of Japan Hikes by 25 Basis Points and Starts QT: Too Little Too Late but in Right Direction to Prop Up the Plunging Yen by Wolf Richter • Jul 31, 2024 • 26 Comments The “real” policy rate is massively negative, with the new policy rate of 0.25% far below Core CPI of 2.6%.
Hot Wage Growth Bedevils Wishlist for ECB Rate Cuts by Wolf Richter • Jun 17, 2024 • 41 Comments Wages jumped by 5.3% in the Euro Area, matching the prior record. The ECB pointed at wage growth as a risk to its inflation outlook.
Bank of Canada Cuts by 25 basis points, to 4.75% as Economy and Inflation Slowed. QT Continues by Wolf Richter • Jun 5, 2024 • 53 Comments Rate hikes seem to be more effective in Canada than in the US in slowing the economy and bringing down inflation.
Bank of Japan Ended QE as the Yen Got Crushed by Wolf Richter • Jun 4, 2024 • 54 Comments Too little too late? Japan had trade deficits for years; a crushed yen is not good. Needed now: Big QT & rate hikes to bail out the yen.
Services Inflation for Japanese Businesses Spikes by Most since 1991, Bank of Japan Gets Lots of Rate-Hike Ammo by Wolf Richter • May 28, 2024 • 40 Comments Huge month-to-month jumps for second month in a row as businesses jack up their prices for new fiscal year.
Bank of England to Sell All Remaining Bonds and Use Repos Instead to Manage Liquidity & Financial Stability by Wolf Richter • May 25, 2024 • 117 Comments Back to the future: With repos, not QE, is how central banks handled issues before 2008. The Fed also revived tools to go back into that direction.
Bank of Canada Balance Sheet QT Sheds 64% of Pandemic QE Assets, Indicates QT Might End in September 2025 by Wolf Richter • Apr 7, 2024 • 53 Comments “Balance sheet normalization” will continue even if the BoC cuts its rates. It’s all about “settlement balances.”
ECB Balance Sheet QT: -€2.2 Trillion from Peak, to €6.61 Trillion. Shed 25% of Total Assets, 53% of Pandemic QE by Wolf Richter • Apr 7, 2024 • 38 Comments Fed and ECB combined removed $4 trillion in liquidity. Inflation, after decades of calm, is hammering some sense into these central banks.
Inflation Saga Far from Over: Services Inflation in Euro Area Just as Stubborn as in the US, Makes Very Disconcerting Moves by Wolf Richter • Mar 1, 2024 • 133 Comments Over the three months through February, services inflation has been running at roughly the same hot rate as during the peak a year ago.
ECB Balance Sheet QT: Down €2.0 Trillion from Peak, to €6.83 Trillion. The ECB Shed 48% of its Pandemic QE Assets by Wolf Richter • Feb 28, 2024 • 55 Comments A big milestone for Quantitative Tightening in the euro area.