All reserve banks news

European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council member Ardo Hansson said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that purchases of corporate bonds could be more effective than purchases of government bonds.

"I've always thought that channels that work directly through enterprises and banks are the most likely channels to have an impact," he said.

The ECB started on Wednesday to buy corporate bonds under its quantitative easing programme.

Hanson also said that the central bank was prepared for the possible Britain's exit from the European Union (EU).

European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council member François Villeroy de Galhau said on Wednesday that there were limits to negative interest rates.

"Not all unconventional instruments are legitimate. There are limits on how negative interest rates can go," he said.

de Galhau pointed out that helicopter money was not an option.

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Monday that the Fed would unlikely raise its interest rates this month due to the weak May labour data, adding that an interest rate hike in July was still possible.

St. Louis Fed president noted that the experience of the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan with negative interest rates was not great.

He also said that the referendum on Britain's membership in the European Union would not have a great impact on the U.S. economy.

Bullard is a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) this year.

The Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen said in a speech on Monday that further interest rate hikes were appropriate as the U.S. labour market continued to strengthen and inflation was picking up toward 2% target.

"I expect the U.S. economy will continue to improve and why I expect that further gradual increases in the federal funds rate will probably be appropriate to best promote the FOMC's goals of maximum employment and price stability," she said.

Yellen pointed out that there were uncertainties to the outlook for the economic growth and to the path of the federal funds rate. She noted that Britain's exit from the European Union (EU) could have a negative impact on the U.S. economy.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) kept its interest rate unchanged at 1.75% on Tuesday as widely expected by analysts.

The RBA Governor Glenn Stevens said that the board's decision was reasonable for "sustainable growth in the economy and inflation returning to target over time".

The RBA governor said that the Australian economy continued to grow, despite a drop in business investment.

Stevens also said that domestic demand and exports rose at or above trend.

According to Stevens, labour market indicators were mixed of late, but are expected to increase in the near term.

The RBA governor also said that consumer price inflation remained "quite low", adding that inflation in Australia was likely to remain low "for some time".

The RBA cut its interest rate to 1.75% from 2.00% in May. This decision was not expected by analysts.

Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Monday that the Fed should wait until July before raising its interest rates further, noting that the U.S. weak labour market data for May and the referendum on Britain's membership in the European Union may weigh on the interest rate decision in June.

Atlanta Fed president also said that he expected two interest rate hikes this year.

Lockhart is not a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) this year.

Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said on Monday that the Fed should raise its interest rate further as the U.S. economy rebounded from the weak first quarter.

"Economic conditions will continue to gradually improve, which in turn would justify further actions to normalize policy, continuing a gradual return to a more normal interest rate environment," he said.

"I expect that the U.S. central bank will gradually normalize monetary policy as the three conditions set out in the April FOMC minutes are met," Boston Fed president added.

Rosengren is a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) this year.

The European Central Bank (ECB) purchased €17.59 billion of government and agency bonds under its quantitative-easing program last week.

The ECB bought €973 million of covered bonds, and €66 million of asset-backed securities.

In May as whole, the central bank purchased €79.67 billion of government and agency bonds, €5.56 billion of covered bonds, and €17 million of asset-backed securities

The ECB cut its interest rate to 0.00% from 0.05% and deposit rate to -0.4% from -0.3% at its March monetary policy meeting. The ECB also expanded its monthly purchases to €80 billion from €60 billion.

Fed Governor Lael Brainard said on Friday that the Fed should wait until the U.S. economy strengthens before raising its interest rates further, adding that the interest rate decision was data dependent.

"Recognizing the data we have on hand for the second quarter is quite mixed and still limited, and there is important near-term uncertainty, there would appear to be an advantage to waiting until developments provide greater confidence," she said.

Brainard noted that the U.S. labour market slowed, while there were risks to the outlook from the slowdown in emerging economies and the referendum on Britain's membership in the European Union.

Brainard is a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee.

Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said in an interview with CNBC on Friday that the Fed could raise its interest rates twice this year if the U.S. economy continues to improve. He added that timing of an interest rate hike was not important.

Evans pointed out that the referendum on Britain's membership in the European Union was likely to have an effect on the Fed's interest rate decision in June.

The European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi said at a press conference on Thursday:

• Interest rates will remain low for an extended period of time;
  
• The economy in the Eurozone continued to recover;
  
• The ECB is ready to act if needed to boost inflation toward 2% target;
  
• There are downside risks, but the balance of risks improved due to the central bank's stimulus measures;
  
• Downside risks are the slowdown in the global economy, the upcoming British referendum and other geopolitical risks;
  
• Inflation in the Eurozone could be negative in the coming months before rising in the second half of 2016;
  
• Structural and fiscal policies were needed.
  
  

The ECB raised its inflation and growth forecasts. Inflation in the Eurozone is expected to be 0.2% in 2016, up from its March estimate of 0.1%, 1.3% in 2017, unchanged from its March estimate, and 1.6% in 2018, unchanged from its March estimate.

The central bank expects the economy in the Eurozone to expand 1.6% in 2016, up from its March estimate of 1.4%, 1.7% in 2017, unchanged from its March estimate, and 1.7% in 2018, down from its March estimate of 1.8%.

The European Central Bank (ECB) kept its monetary unchanged on Thursday. The interest rate remained unchanged at 0.00%. This decision was widely expected by analysts.

The ECB will start to buy corporate bonds on June 08.

The ECB cut its interest rate to 0.00% from 0.05% and deposit rate to -0.4% from -0.3% at its meeting in March. The ECB also expanded its monthly purchases to €80 billion from €60 billion, to take effect in April. The central bank decided to launch further four targeted longer-term refinancing operations (LTRO).