Monetary Policy Week in Review – 10 March 2012

The past week in monetary policy and central banking saw just one central bank change interest rates, with Brazil cutting rates 75 basis points to 9.75%.  Meanwhile those that held interest rates unchanged were: Australia 4.25%, Kenya 18.00%, Poland 4.50%, New Zealand 2.50%, EU 1.00%, UK 0.50%, Korea 3.25%, Serbia 9.50%, Peru 4.25%, Canada 1.00%, Malaysia 3.00%, and Indonesia 5.75%.  The Reserve Bank of India also made headlines, cutting its Cash Reserve Ratio by 75 basis points to 4.75%.

Looking at the central bank calendar, the main event next week is the US Federal Reserve’s FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee), Wall Street will be watching the release closely for any signs of further Quantitative Easing e.g. “QE3” or even sterilized quantitative easing. The Bank of Japan meeting and Swiss National Bank meetings will also be worth watching.