Central Banks Live: Speeches, Interviews, and Testimony

ECB and EIOPA propose European approach to reduce economic impact of natural catastrophes

Isabel Schnabel: Navigating towards neutral

Christine Lagarde: Monetary policy in the euro area

Christine Lagarde, Luis de Guindos: Monetary policy statement (with Q&A)

Getting the balance right: ensuring the Bank’s balance sheet can support financial stability − speech by Dave Ramsden

Given at the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum, London

Christine Lagarde: Hearing of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament

Piero Cipollone: The case for a digital euro in the European payments landscape

Once more unto the breach - speech by Philippe Lintern

Given at FX Markets Europe

The SWES: using system-wide scenario analysis to spot systemic risks − speech by Lee Foulger

Given at Bloomberg

Decisions taken by the Governing Council of the ECB (in addition to decisions setting interest rates)

Inflation dynamics - slides by Swati Dhingra

Bank of England Watchers Conference

Bowman, Artificial Intelligence in the Financial System

Speech At the 27th Annual Symposium on Building the Financial System of the 21st Century: An Agenda for Japan and the United States, Washington, D.C.

Bowman, Approaching Policymaking Pragmatically

Speech At the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach, Florida

Cook, Economic Outlook

Speech At the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia

Growth − speech by Andrew Bailey

Given at the Mansion House Financial and Professional Services Dinner

Kugler, Central Bank Independence and the Conduct of Monetary Policy

Speech At the Albert Hirschman Lecture, 2024 Annual Meeting of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association and the Latin American and Caribbean Chapter of the Econometric Society, Montevideo, Uruguay

Engaging with the machine: AI and financial stability − speech by Sarah Breeden

Given at HKMA-BIS Joint Conference on Opportunities and Challenges of Emerging Technologies in the Financial Ecosystem

Michael D. Gill Memorial Society Lecture − Andrew Bailey

Given at CFTC, Washington

Today’s challenges in Financial Stability: the new and the not so new - speech by Andrew Bailey

Given at Bloomberg Regulatory Forum, New York

Competing for growth − speech by Sam Woods

Given at the Annual City Banquet, Mansion House

Monetary Policy: Lessons from the pandemic - slides by Swati Dhingra

Given at the Reserve Bank of India’s 90th anniversary high-level conference

Cook, Entrepreneurs, Innovation, and Participation

Speech At the 2024 Women for Women Summit, Charleston, South Carolina

Cross-checking − speech by Huw Pill

Given at the Institute of Chartered Accountants for England and Wales annual conference ‘Building an Economy Fit for the Future’, London

Innovation in Digital Assets in the Financial System and The Bank − by Sasha Mills

Given at Digital Assets Week

TRUSTED AI: Ethical, safe, and effective application of artificial intelligence at the Bank of England − speech by James Benford

Given at the Central Bank AI Conference

Regulatory Impact Statement: Biosecurity Act Amendment Bill

Legislation: Biosecurity Act 1993Ministerial portfolio: BiosecurityDocument on Ministry for Primary Industries website at September 2024: Regulatory Impact Statement: Biosecurity Act Amendment BillAssessment: RIS adequacy assessed by authoring agency.

Annex to Regulatory Impact Statement: Young serious offender declaration and military-style academies

Legislation: Oranga Tamariki Act 1989Ministerial portfolio: ChildrenDocument on Oranga Tamariki-Ministry for Children website at September 2024: Annex to Regulatory Impact Statement: Young serious offender declaration and military-style academies (links to PDF)Assessment: RIS adequacy assessed by authoring agency.

Policy spillovers when external shocks persist and domestic activity diverges - speech by Catherine L. Mann

Given at the Central Bank Research Association, National Bank of Poland and Bank of Lithuania 5th biennial conference ‘Macroeconomic adjustments after large global shocks’ in Vilnius, Lithuania

Regulatory Impact Statement: 2024 update to New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme limits and price control settings for units

Legislation: Climate Change Response Act 2002Ministerial portfolio: Climate ChangeDocument on Ministry for the Environment website at September 2024: Regulatory Impact Statement: 2024 update to New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme limits and price control settings for units (links to PDF)Assessment: RIS adequacy assessed by authoring agency.

Stage 2 Cost Recovery Impact Statement: Immigration Fee and Levy Review

Legislation: Immigration Act 2009Ministerial portfolio: ImmigrationDocument on Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment website at September 2024: Stage 2 Cost Recovery Impact Statement: Immigration Fee and Levy Review (links to PDF)Assessment: RIS adequacy assessed by authoring agency.

Regulatory Impact Statement: Proposals for regulations for natural hazard information in land information memoranda

Legislation: Local Government Official Information and Meetings ActMinisterial portfolio: Local GovernmentDocument on Department of Internal Affairs website at September 2024: Regulatory Impact Statement: Proposals for regulations for natural hazard information in land information memoranda (links to PDF)Assessment: RIS adequacy assessed by authoring agency.

A balanced approach to finishing Basel 3.1 in the UK − speech by Phil Evans

Given at UK Finance

Reflecting on recent times – speech by Andrew Bailey

Given at The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas 2024 Economic Symposium, Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Late call − speech by Nathanaël Benjamin

Given at Linklaters, hosted by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association

2024-04-26 - Thomas Jordan: Price stability thanks to forward-looking monetary policy

In recent years, the Swiss National Bank has had to ensure price stability in very different situations. It has succeeded in doing so by focusing on its mandate and through its monetary policy strategy. The years before the coronavirus pandemic were characterised by low inflation. The outbreak of the pandemic triggered a serious downturn in the global economy, and the Swiss franc as a safe haven once more came under strong appreciation pressure. In this phase, the SNB fulfilled its mandate by using negative interest and extensive purchases of foreign exchange to counter the threat of deflation. After years when it had been exceptionally low, inflation suddenly returned with all its might across the world as the pandemic subsided. Supply that had been reduced by containment measures and disrupted supply chains met with demand heightened by catch-up effects. The war in Ukraine also saw energy prices shoot up, giving further impetus to inflation. The SNB tightened its monetary policy early by international comparison. Already in the second half of 2021, it deliberately allowed the Swiss franc to appreciate by being restrained in its purchases of foreign currency. After the first quarter of 2022, the SNB refrained from foreign currency purchases, and from the middle of the year tightened its monetary policy both by raising the SNB policy rate in several steps and by selling foreign currency. Thanks also to the early monetary policy tightening, inflation in Switzerland was at all times significantly lower than in many other countries, and has been back in the range consistent with price stability since mid-2023. Without its forward-looking monetary policy, the SNB would have had to raise its policy rate much more strongly at a later stage, with potentially negative consequences for the economy and the labour market. The successful fight against inflation also allowed the SNB to ease its monetary policy in March 2024, which at the same time supported economic activity. Although its approach has proven its worth in a wide variety of situations, the SNB will always critically examine its own assessments, and will endeavour to identify changes in conditions as early as possible and analyse their impact. It is thus well equipped to continue ensuring price stability in Switzerland in the future.

2024-05-30 - Thomas Jordan: The natural rate of interest (r*) as a reference point for monetary policy - a practitioner's view

Over the past years, the natural rate of interest (r*) - defined as the real interest rate consistent with stable inflation in an economy operating at full capacity in the medium term - has become an important reference point for monetary policy. The difference between the real interest rate and r* gives a measure of a central bank's monetary policy stance. Monetary policy is restrictive if the real interest rate is above r* and it is expansionary if it is below r*. Therefore, evaluating where the real interest rate is relative to r* helps to structure discussions about monetary policy options.  However, r* is unobserved and has to be estimated from the data. These estimates are subject to considerable uncertainty, which complicates their use in the monetary policy process. Nevertheless, neglecting r* estimates in practical monetary policy considerations would be a mistake. Given the uncertainty surrounding r* estimates, it is an important task of our economists to form a robust view on r*. They derive this view from a portfolio of different models and cross-check the results against a broader set of indicators to arrive at a measure of r* that is useful for monetary policymaking. This measure plays an important role in our monetary policy decisions. First, it is an important element in assessing monetary conditions. However, other factors - such as real exchange rates - also play an important part in this assessment at the SNB. Second, the deviation of the real interest rate from r* is essential for our inflation forecast and thus for gauging medium-term inflationary pressure.  Uncertainty surrounding r* estimates can be narrowed down to some extent, but it cannot be eliminated. Our risk management approach to monetary policymaking acknowledges the uncertainty and prescribes that policy decisions be appropriate for a range of scenarios. Ultimately, our decisions are guided by our mandate of ensuring price stability.

2024-09-26 - Thomas Jordan / Martin Schlegel / Antoine Martin: Introductory remarks, news conference

2024-10-30 - Martin Schlegel / Sébastien Kraenzlin: SNB to develop new banknote series

2024-11-22 - Martin Schlegel: Maintaining price stability in a small open economy with a safe-haven currency

As a small open economy with a safe-haven currency, Switzerland is strongly influenced by global economic fluctuations. Because of the safe-haven nature of the Swiss franc, the impact of declines in global demand on the Swiss economy tends to be reinforced by an appreciating currency. As a result, global economic downturns have repeatedly been followed by significant decreases in inflation. Given the strong influence of developments abroad on Swiss inflation, the SNB needs a monetary policy framework that allows for some flexibility in terms of accepted inflation rates. Accordingly, the SNB defines price stability as any inflation rate between 0% and 2%, and seeks to keep inflation within this range over the medium term. This has allowed the SNB to respond flexibly to shocks and continuously weigh up the costs and benefits of its monetary policy measures. While there have been episodes when inflation was temporarily outside the price stability range, it has always returned relatively quickly to values within that range. The SNB's main tool is the SNB policy rate, which determines the monetary policy stance and is thus the focus of its communication. As an additional monetary policy measure, the SNB has also used foreign exchange interventions, both for countering the threat of deflation and for fighting inflation. A major side effect of the foreign currency purchases required in the years after the global financial crisis has been the expansion of the SNB's balance sheet, which has led to major fluctuations in its annual results. In light of the balance sheet risks, the SNB's equity capital is currently considerably too low. Building up the SNB's capital must thus take precedence over profit distributions. The Swiss economy has performed well by international comparison over the past couple of decades. The SNB has contributed to this performance by maintaining price stability despite significant deflationary and inflationary risks. Going forward, the SNB will continue to contribute to favourable economic conditions in Switzerland by ensuring price stability.

Barr, Supervision and Regulation

Testimony Before the Committee on Financial Services, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.