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Quantitativeeasing

Is QE really around the corner? Let's compare to GFCThe argument for US Quantitative Easing soon and subsequent pumpamentals in the equity market are often discussed on socialmedia these days. Let's look at the GFC and see when they announced QE back then. February 7, 2007 – HSBC’s Subprime Losses July 31, 2007 – Bear Stearns Hedge Fund Collapse September 18, 2007 – Fed Begins Rate Cuts September 15, 2008 - Lehmann Brothers Bankruptcy November 25, 2008 - Fed announces QE: federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20081125b.htm Were are we today? Stonks at ATH, Gold at ATH, Bitcoin ATH. Valuations historically expansive and growth expectations on stonks gigantic accompanied by a lot of passive investment. Okay so all I'm trying to say here is that there were times where they were very strict in doing QE and only as a last resort in the depths of a crisis. Also when it happens it is not the immediate start to a bull market (at least during a crisis event). Also the balance sheet of the FED seems still full to me with 7 trillion to burn through. Is it really time to increase again? I know that the argument for soon QE to create liquidity(inflation) to handle the looming global debt crisis everyone is talking about is also out there. I also think that they will be faster this time to announce QE, they might just still take couple of months and a little bit of crisis.
CME_MINI:ES1!
by entomologyx
🇺🇸 US2M - QE To buy the US Debt again ? 💎Here's an intriguing observation I'd like to discuss. The increasing number of diamond 💎💎 alerts serves as a warning sign indicating an imminent significant market move. - What is the US2M? The M2 money supply is a measure of the total amount of money in circulation within an economy that includes cash, checking deposits, savings deposits, and other liquid assets. It's broader than M1, which only includes cash and checking deposits. M2 is important because it gives a more comprehensive picture of the available money for spending and investment within an economy. - Does quantitative easing add to the money supply? Quantitative easing expands the money supply by enlarging the central bank's balance sheet and introducing fresh cash into the economy. This process boosts banks' reserves held at the central bank, effectively increasing the overall money available for circulation and lending. So what does it imply ? 📈 When we say quantitative easing increases the money supply, it means that it adds more money into circulation within the economy. This can lead to more available funds for spending, investment, and lending, which can stimulate economic activity. ( + the US Dollar often goes down in this case) 📉 On the other hand, if we say quantitative easing decreases the money supply, it would mean the opposite: the central bank is reducing the amount of money in circulation. This could be done to control inflation or to address other economic concerns where too much money in circulation might cause problems like rising prices. (+ the US Dollar often goes up in this case) Do not forget to check this US2M Chart, it is very important. I wish you a great day. ILT 💎
ECONOMICS:USM2Long
by IllumiTrade
BAC setting up to thrive from rate - cuts LONGBAC is showed here on a 100R(ange) where price action from the Covid lows to the federal stimulus highs to the fade and consolidation of Summer 2022 to Summer 2023 and another fade and reversal from it are seen on the chart. At presen, BAC has reversed upside. With Uncles Powell and Sam announcing likely three rate cuts in 24Q3 and 24Q4, I see banks including BAC getting a break with more loan originations and less pressure for high payouts on savings accounts which may be the capital sources of those loans. I see this a an opportunity here and now to take long positions before those hypothetical cuts get baked into the price. The same may go for WFC, JPM, GS and others. My first target is 44 at the " neckline" of the 3,4Q21 triple top.
NYSE:BACLong
by AwesomeAvani
Quantitative Tightening Effects on the Markets This video tutorial discussion: • What is QE and QT? • Each impact to the stock market • The latest QT, how will the stock market into 2024? Dow Jones Futures & Its Minimum Fluctuation E-mini Dow Jones Futures 1.0 index point = $5.00 Code: YM Micro E-mini Dow Jones Futures 1.0 index point = $0.50 Code: MYM Disclaimer: • What presented here is not a recommendation, please consult your licensed broker. • Our mission is to create lateral thinking skills for every investor and trader, knowing when to take a calculated risk with market uncertainty and a bolder risk when opportunity arises. CME Real-time Market Data help identify trading set-ups in real-time and express my market views. If you have futures in your trading portfolio, you can check out on CME Group data plans available that suit your trading needs www.tradingview.com
FRED:WALCLEducation
by konhow
2
TLT: Trade Idea Before More Fed QEThe signal I was waiting for to start buying bonds was whenever the Federal Reserve stopped or slowed raising interest rates. The Fed held another rate policy meeting this week and only raised the Federal Funds Rate by +.25% instead of the +.75% that had been the trend. We've gone from seeing a +.50% hike in Dec, to +.25% in Jan to +.25% this week after 4 prior straight +.75% hikes in mid to late 2022. Now that banks are failing and layoffs are starting to tick up, this weeks rate hike was likely the last for a bit unless inflation doesn't stay flat or go down before the next Fed rate meeting. You can search "2023 FOMC meetings" for the full schedule. My thought here is that within the next 12-18 months the Federal Reserve will lower rates and begin buying treasuries again(aka money printing), and I think the time to start front-running that trade in to bonds is now for those who like to accumulate a larger position over time. The best way for the average trader or phone app investor to get into bonds is via "TLT", the iShares 20+ year Treasury Bond ETF, which tracks the 20-year treasury bond price rather than the interest rate on the 20-year bond. As rates go up, bond prices go down and vice versa. Right now I'm betting on rates having topped out(or close to it) and that bond prices are going to go back up over the next year or so as recession fears kick in and stock prices go lower. We've had a deep and long yield curve inversion to boot and those almost always precede a US recession. I have a recent post showing the yield curve inversion vs stocks vs US recessions for reference. TLT price is trading at decade lows and holding above $100 after a dip down to $90. Seeing the price of any asset hold above nice round numbers is always a good sign, psychologically traders like round numbers. The lower PPO momentum indicator is showing signs of a potential reversal in momentum from negative to short-term positive, and this is a monthly chart so it would be a significant event. A bullish crossover is what we want to see which is when the green signal line crosses above the purple base line in the lower PPO indicator. That would indicate a short-term return to bullish momentum on a monthly basis.
NASDAQ:TLTLong
by PrepForProfit
4
BTC: Don't DCA YetMacro conditions couldn’t be any worse. Starting this month, the Fed unleashed its quantitative tightening (QT) plans, trimming the $9trillion balance sheet at an unprecedented scale (current run-off cap: $47.5bn/month initial; $95bn/month 3 month later; 2017 run-off: max $50bn/month). The last two quantitative tightening led to a sharp rise in yields in 2013 and a repo crisis in 2019 respectively. Unfortunately, this time around, the Fed has to deal with a much larger balance sheet and all-time high inflation rate since 1982. Without the ability to print real world supply of goods and services (factories, natural resources), the Fed has lever on the demand side, but lowering demand means hikes in unemployment (which the Fed is already targeting). With a 7% gap between short-term rate and inflation rate, can the Fed “just rise unemployment a little bit” without causing a recession? Extremely hard unless real world supply of goods and services picks up. For us crypto traders and investors, the question is - isn’t bitcoin an inflation hedge, and if global market enters a recession, wouldn’t bitcoin be the risk-off asset of choice? My take on this is not in this cycle. Bitcoin has not experienced a proper traditional finance bear market yet and has performed poorly during past tapering and quantitative tightening environments. Different phases of quantitative easing, tapering, and quantitative tightening are marked on the chart above. After three rounds of quantitative easing from 2010, the start of tapering in 2014 marked the beginning of bitcoin’s 2-year bear market. In 2017, quantitative tightening started in October, and the 2018 crypto crash soon followed. In other words, bitcoin’s inflation hedge narrative hasn’t been officially tested or widely accepted. With arbitrage opportunities, scams, hack risks, and run-on-bank fear, the crypto market is no doubt in its early stage. While superior security and scarcity give bitcoin the potential to replace gold in a new era of currency, early-stage demand side volatility makes bitcoin subject to wild price swings. The current reality is we see rising correlation between bitcoin and the equity market year after year, and the volatility is further heightened by the derivative market. In the current cycle, bitcoin’s inflation hedge value is overpowered by its volatility, and it is hard for bitcoin to rally under gloomy global macro conditions before the market matures and stabilizes. Do you agree? What’s your take on crypto under the current global macro? Support and comment below!
BITSTAMP:BTCUSDShort
by Phi-Deltalytics
18
The raising of interest rates VS BTC price actionHey everyone, Hope everyone is keeping well and in good health. We've seen our crypto portfolios shrink in monetary (FIAT) value. This sucks, but please refrain yourself from making emotional choices here at all times. Above illustration incorporates the recent FED rate hikes between 2015 and 2019 and what the price-action of Bitcoin was in that time period. I know the bears are trying to spread a lot of fear around J. Powell's plans. but always do your own research. Historically speaking, the FED raising interest does not have a negative effect on BTC. Last time the rates hikes began, BTC did over 40x (from around $450 to the 2018 top of nearly $20K) Everyone take care and keep healthy. Thank you for taking the time and until the next time!
BNC:BLX
by impatientmonk
S&P 500 Has a Lot More Room to Grow, Too Early for a Recession.If you look at the S&P500 index ( TVC:SPX ) chart, you find that it has reached, and even surpassed, the previous high at 3393.5 which occurred just before the CV19 drop in March 2020. The last close on 31 December 2020 was at 3760. However, many attribute the recent V-shaped recovery to the Quantitative Easing scheme by the Federal Reserve, which makes a lot of sense. Printing money accelerates inflation and raises the prices of everything including stocks. If you haven't yet, look at the M2 Money Supply ( FRED:M2 ) (chart below) to get a feel for the scale of the increase in money supply during 2020 relative to the past 20 years. Below is the chart of SPX for the past 20 years. Below is the chart of M2 money supply for the past 20 years. Notice the jump in the last year. This analysis looks instead at the chart of SPX divided by M2 . That gives us an inflation-adjusted look at SPX. We notice that the index has not yet achieved the V-shaped recovery. It is 2/3 of the way there. What's more, even the Feb 2020 high is not higher than the 2007 high that was just before the house mortgage crisis, and the latter is not higher than the dot-com bubble high in 2000. This simply means that making money through the S&P500 is not really making money, not really increasing the value of your holdings, but it is rather a mere hedge against inflation; and a failed hedge at that. It hasn't even achieved previous highs. With all that being said, I do not believe that the March 2020 correction was anything to be scared of. I think we will achieve the high that occurred just before that drop. I say do not fear a major correction, let alone a recession, before we reach the top of the parallel channel as the arc arrow indicates. And keep your eyes only on the inflation-adjusted chart of SPX.
SP:SPXLong
by TechNerdOmar
4
The Final Sprint (16 December 2021)Doubling the pace of QE tapering The Federal Reserve ended its final monetary policy meeting for the year with a bang. While holding interest rate unchanged at the target range of 0-0.25%, the central bank doubled the pace of quantitative easing (QE) tapering from the current $15 billion ($10 billion of Treasury securities + $5 billion of agency mortgage-backed securities) per month to $30 billion ($20 billion of Treasury securities + $10 billion of agency mortgage-backed securities) per month starting from January 2022. The decision to speed up tapering comes as the central bank felt that “the economy no longer needs increasing amounts of policy support”, Fed Chairman Powell explained during the press conference. He also mentioned that the recent pace of inflation is “uncomfortably high” and employment in the U.S. is making substantial progress towards the central bank’s maximum employment goal. And so, the committee felt that the time has come to progressively withdraw from the policy enacted in response to the pandemic. Hence, in March 2022, the Fed’s massive bond buying programme will come to a complete halt, opening the way for interest rate hikes. Dot plot indicates aggressive rate hikes for 2022 In the released quarterly projection materials, the dot plot shows a big shift in the dots upwards, indicating that more members are now expecting interest rate to be at a higher level for the next few years. Specifically, all 18 members of the committee expect at least one rate hike while 12 of them expect three rate hikes in 2022. Also, 11 members expected that interest rate will return to the pre-pandemic level of 1.5-1.75% in 2023, contrasting from the previous projection materials that only three members expect so. The sense of urgency for more rate hikes come as inflation has escalated to a near 40-year high level. Persistent inflation Ever since consumer prices set new highs in decades for two consecutive months, the Fed has changed its view that inflation is transitory. The central bank’s Chief is now acknowledging that inflation “may be more persistent” and is having an upward pressure on inflation expectations. It was also mentioned in the rate statement that supply and demand imbalances have led to “elevated levels of inflation”. Thus, the Fed has revised PCE inflation expectations upwards for 2022. Moving forward, we can expect the Federal Reserve to wind up its QE during the first quarter of 2022 since good progress towards its dual mandate has been made – annual inflation has more than doubled the central bank’s target for several months and the rate towards maximum employment has been fast and is expected to continue in the near future.
TVC:DXY
by GH_Lee
SP500 Possible inverted head and shoulderHello! SP500 has a possible inverted head and shoulder . If we do break the neckline and close above it . Easiest way to take a trade ( at least for me ) is with break and retest . That's how you can get really good risk/reward ratios , you wont get bull trapped and that also teaches patience. If you are/want to be a swing trader you need to have this quality to succeed. If we do take a way downwards we can also short after falling below the right shoulder which I marked. I guess markets liked what Powell had to say and the decreasing quantitative easing was already priced in (for now) . Take note that 200EMA and 200MA has worked as support previously.. ( red arrows ) If the 200EMA catches up. Shorting in that situation won't be smart cause the 200EMA can work as support (like previously) and the risk/reward is less than 1/3 If you do take trades, always use a stop loss. Otherwise you will get your ass burned! -Jebu
TVC:SPXLong
by PalenTrade
The Cautious Kiwi (25 November 2021)As widely expected, we see a further tightening of monetary policy from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) during the meeting on Wednesday. But the decision did not gain any positive market reaction for the New Zealand dollar as the 0.25% hike in interest rate had already been priced in. It was a 0.50% hike that the market was yearning for. Once the market did not receive the 0.50% hike, a strong sell-off in the New Zealand dollar followed across the board. Catalysts for more rate hikes: maximum employment, high inflation and rising home prices The RBNZ highlighted that employment in New Zealand is now above its maximum sustainable level while unemployment rate has declined to the lowest level in over a decade. At the same time, annual inflation in the country has risen to 4.9%, way above the central bank’s 1-3% target amid the ongoing supply chain bottlenecks and the rising global oil prices. Furthermore, the RBNZ is expecting prices to remain high in the near term before declining back down to within their targeted range. On the matter of home prices, the central bank’s officials concluded that the current level of home prices are unsustainable but noted that continued hikes in interest rate will likely lead to more sustainable home prices. Bond holdings under LSAP no longer significant With the functioning of the bond market improving, the RBNZ has stopped purchasing bonds under the Large Scale Asset Purchase (LSAP) programme in July. Furthermore, the current holdings of the bonds purchased by the central bank are only providing meagre stimulus. Thus, the RBNZ will be providing more details on winding down its bond holdings early next year. All is not lost! Although the modest rate hike was kind of a disappointment, causing the New Zealand dollar to take a hit, it is likely that the impact will be temporary. The RBNZ’s interest rate projection for 2022 indicates that rate hikes are expected in every quarter of the year, with interest rate rising to 2.1% by year-end. This interest rate level has surpassed the pre-pandemic level, thus indicating the central bank’s forecast that the New Zealand economy in 2022 is likely going to outperform the year just before the pandemic struck. The projection material also showed that the RBNZ is expecting annual inflation to peak at 5.7% during the first quarter of 2022 before declining steadily to 3.3% by year-end. However, the expected decline throughout the year is insufficient for inflation to fall within the central bank’s 1-3% target. And so, the officials may still consider a more aggressive rate hike as an option in the future in order to add more downward pressure on prices.
by GH_Lee
The Road To Normalcy Begins (06 November 2021)Fed starts tapering! The long-awaited taper meeting has finally arrived! The Federal Reserve announced during their monetary policy meeting on Thursday that it will begin slowing down its net asset purchases by $15 billion per month which comprises of $10 billion Treasury bonds and $5 billion agency mortgage-backed securities. The first round of tapering will begin later this month and the second round will take place at the beginning of December. Moving forward, the monthly pace of quantitative easing (QE) tapering will be similar to these two months and may be adjusted depending on the economic outlook. Regardless of the pace, the Fed is expecting QE to end by mid-2022. The following illustration shows that under the same tapering pace, QE will end in June 2022. Nov 2021: $70b Treasury Bonds + $35b Agency MBS Dec 2021: $60b Treasury Bonds + $30b Agency MBS Jan 2022: $50b Treasury Bonds + $25b Agency MBS Feb 2022: $40b Treasury Bonds + $20b Agency MBS Mar 2022: $30b Treasury Bonds + $15b Agency MBS Apr 2022: $20b Treasury Bonds + $10b Agency MBS May 2022: $10b Treasury Bonds + $5b Agency MBS Jun 2022: End of QE A small step back on “transitory” With the recent comment made by Fed Chairman Powell that supply bottlenecks will take longer to ease, thus expecting prices to remain high for a longer period of time, the Fed has taken a small step back from its view on inflation being transitory. The previous confidence that the elevated inflation “largely reflecting transitory factors” has now been revised to “largely reflecting factors that are expected to be transitory”. During the press conference, Powell also clarified the definition of “transitory” that the central bank adopts after highlighting that the word has different understanding to different people. For the Fed, “if something is transitory it will not leave behind permanently – or very persistently higher – inflation”. With the ongoing supply chain disruptions, the central bank Chief is expecting inflation to continue its rise into 2022 before easing back down during mid-2022. Maximum employment still quite a distance away Although tapering of the massive $120 billion per month QE programme has begun, Powell warned that the Fed’s decision to do so does not imply a rate hike is underway. The central bank held its interest rate unchanged at the targeted range of 0-0.25% and would like to see the labour market achieve maximum employment before considering a hike. As of the October’s jobs report, the U.S. job market is still some 5 million jobs away from the pre-pandemic level. The Fed is likely going to consider a rate hike only when the jobs lost during the pandemic have been fully recovered. Even so, the central bank may wait a little longer to be certain that jobs growth is indeed consistent before committing.
TVC:DXY
by GH_Lee
3
A Rate Hike Before 2024? (04 November 2021)The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) concluded its monetary policy meeting on Tuesday with no change in its weekly A$4 billion bond purchases, aka quantitative easing (QE), while holding interest rate unchanged at 0.10%. What has changed during this meeting is the ending of the central bank’s yield curve control (YCC). Dropping the YCC It all began when the RBA carried out an unscheduled purchase of A$1 billion of April 2024 Australian government bond back in 22 October in an attempt to tame the rising yield, bringing it back down to the central bank’s 0.10% target. Towards the end of October, yield on the April 2024 bond sky-rocketed to 0.75%, the biggest monthly increase since 1994. This time round however, the RBA did not attempt to bring down the yield to its target through any purchase of bonds, leaving the market to speculate that the RBA may be discontinuing its YCC during its November meeting. The decision to end the YCC “reflects the improvement in the economy and the earlier-than-expected progress towards the inflation target” as explained in the rate statement. With the rise of interest rates from other markets, the central bank felt that the efficacy of the YCC has vanished. An earlier rate hike timeline The RBA has repeatedly emphasized that an interest rate hike will be considered only when inflation is sustainably achieved within its 2-3% target. Prior to the November’s meeting, the central bank forecasts that this condition “will not be met before 2024”. However, it has revised this forecast somewhat optimistically in yesterday’s statement, indicating that: “The Board is prepared to be patient, with the central forecast being for underlying inflation to be no higher than 2½ per cent at the end of 2023 and for only a gradual increase in wages growth.” With this revision, the RBA is now implying the possibility of inflation coming into the 2-3% targeted range at the end of 2023. This means it is fair game for the central bank to carry forward its rate hike timeline. Overall positive economic projections The RBA’s quarterly economic projections for 2022 and 2023 have underwent positive revisions. Specifically, inflation projection has been revised upwards which is good as it is the main deciding factor of a rate hike from the central bank. The RBA now expects inflation to fall within their 2-3% target for 2022 and 2023. For year 2022, GDP: 5.50% (a little over 4.00%) Unemployment: 4.25% (4.25%) CPI Inflation: 2.25% (1.75%) For year 2023, GDP: 2.50% (2.50%) Unemployment: 4.00% (4.00%) CPI Inflation: 2.50% (2.25%) *Figures shown in parentheses refers to projections from August 2021
by GH_Lee
2
Double Hawkish Tone From The BOC (28 October 2021)QE has ended. During the monetary policy meeting yesterday, the Bank of Canada (BoC) carried out a hawkish move. The initial expectation from the market was for the central bank to taper its quantitative easing (QE) from C$2 billion per week to C$1 billion per week. However, the BoC surprised the market by bringing its QE to a halt. Rate hike timeline carried forward. Back in September’s meeting, the BoC mentioned in the rate statement that interest rate will be held at its current level until its 2% inflation target is sustainably achieved. The central bank projected this target to be met during the second half of 2022. However, in the released rate statement yesterday, the BoC revised its projection and is now expecting the target to be met in the middle quarters of 2022. This directly translates to an earlier timeline for the central bank to hike interest rate. Quarterly economic projections. The BoC revised its economic growth projections for 2021 and 2022 downwards while revising upwards for 2023. The downwards revision comes as the central bank is expecting global supply chain disruptions and shipping bottlenecks to carry on into next year, having a negative impact on economic growth. As for inflation, the BoC revised its projections upwards for all three years, explaining that higher energy prices and supply bottlenecks are now “stronger and more persistent then expected”. Hence, the central bank is expecting inflation to be elevated into 2022. For year 2021, GDP: 5.1% (6.0%) CPI Inflation: 3.4% (3.0%) For year 2022, GDP: 4.3% (4.6%) CPI Inflation: 3.4% (2.4%) For year 2023, GDP: 3.7% (3.3%) CPI Inflation: 2.3% (2.2%) *Figures shown in parentheses refers to projections from July 2021 What’s next for the BoC? With the conclusion of QE, the BoC is now moving into the reinvestment phase. In this phase, the central bank will offset bonds maturities by purchasing new bonds to replace those that are maturing in order to maintain the overall bond holdings at around the same level. The targeted range of purchase will be from C$4 billion to C$5 billion per month. With that, the duration of the reinvestment phase has become a future monetary policy decision and will depend on the economic recovery and how inflation plays out in the future.
by GH_Lee
It’s Recalibration, Not Tapering (10 September 2021)The ECB’s decision. The European Central Bank (ECB) held its interest rates unchanged during their monetary policy meeting yesterday. Main Refinancing Operations Rate: 0.00% Marginal Lending Facility Rate: 0.25% Deposit Facility Rate: -0.50% The size of its quantitative easing (QE) programmes remains unchanged as well. Asset Purchase Programme (APP): €20 billion per month Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP): €1,850 billion in total On top of that, the central bank has opted for a reduction of pace in its assets purchase under the PEPP but did not provide more details on the amount. At the moment, €80 billion worth of assets are being purchased on a monthly basis. It’s recalibration, not tapering. Just when the market is trying to figure out from the monetary policy statement if the ECB has just carried out a QE tapering, the central bank’s President Christine Lagarde elucidated that the reduction of the pace is not a tapering, but a recalibration. The ECB’s decision “is to calibrate the pace of our purchases in order to deliver on our goal of favourable financing conditions”. President Lagarde’s comment left the market wondering how significant is such an action carried out by the central bank going to have on QE if it is not considered as tapering. As a result, the euro was moving in an unclear direction. Positive inflation projections. Although the ECB’s action is likely going to spark some discussions over its ambiguity, one thing we know for sure is that the central bank is feeling confident in the recent rise in inflation in the eurozone. As released in the quarterly projection materials, overall inflation forecasts have been revised upwards. Inflation Projections: 2021: revised upwards from previous 1.9% to 2.2% 2022: revised upwards from previous 1.5% to 1.7% 2023: revised upwards from previous 1.4% to 1.5%
by GH_Lee
Dovish Tapering Locks In QE (08 September 2021)The dovish tapering decision. During its monetary policy decision yesterday, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) kept its cash rate unchanged at 0.10%. As promised, the central bank proceeded with its quantitative easing (QE) tapering plan announced back in the July’s meeting. What came as a surprise is the duration of the new round of QE. Previously, the RBA opted for a two-month QE duration. But during the announcement yesterday, the central bank decided to extend the duration by five months instead. Thus, the tapered A$4 billion QE will run from September until at least February 2022. As a result, the Australian dollar strengthened for a brief period of time before weakening across the board, reflecting the dovishness as a result of the extension of the QE duration. Delta variant still a concern to the RBA. Despite RBA Governor Lowe saying previously that fiscal policy will prove to be more effective than monetary policy in providing aid at the moment, this does not deter the central bank from making a more cautious decision. As explained in the rate statement, the RBA’s decision to extend the QE duration “reflects the delay in the economic recovery and the increased uncertainty associated with the Delta outbreak”. Rate hike remains out of sight. As with the previous meetings, the RBA continues to reiterate that its cash rate will not be increased until inflation falls within the 2-3% target range and this condition will not be met before 2024 based on their current projection.
by GH_Lee
QE Tapering Plan Will Go On (06 August 2021)Three days ago, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) delivered a little surprise when it decided to stick with its quantitative easing (QE) plan announced back in July despite the recent spike in COVID cases in Australia. (Refer to my post "RBA Sticks With QE Tapering Plan (04 August 2021)" on RBA monetary policy) Details on why the central bank decides to proceed with its decision on QE tapering were provided during Governor Lowe testimony earlier today. Lowe’s Testimony During his testimony before the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics, Governor Lowe said that the RBA has considered holding back its plan for QE tapering during the monetary policy meeting. However, the central bank’s positive projections on the economic growth for 2022 permitted the plan to continue. Lowe explained that “any additional bond purchases would have their maximum effect at that time and only a very small effect right now when the extra support is needed most.” Furthermore, he mentioned the RBA felt that fiscal policy would be more appropriate than monetary policy in terms of providing aid at the moment. Nonetheless, the flexible approach of its QE programme allows the central bank to make adjustments to the rate of bond purchases in response to any unexpected turn of events. On the subject of the RBA cash rate, Lowe highlighted that the central bank will not be increasing cash rate until inflation is sustainably in the 2-3% range. He emphasised that the RBA needs to be confident that inflation will remain within the targeted range before any rate hike is considered. Finally, Lowe said that the condition for a rate hike “is not expected to be met before 2024”. RBA economic projections. For year 2021, Australian GDP: 4.00 (4.75) CPI Inflation: 2.50 (1.75) Unemployment Rate: 5.00 (5.00) For year 2022, Australian GDP: 4.25 (3.50) CPI Inflation: 1.75 (1.50) Unemployment Rate: 4.25 (4.50) For year 2023, Australian GDP: 2.50 (N/A) CPI Inflation: 2.25 (N/A) Unemployment Rate: 4.00 (N/A) *Figures shown in parentheses refers to projections from May 2021
by GH_Lee
No Signs Of QE Tapering From The BoE Yet (06 August 2021)The BoE’s decision. As widely expected, the Bank of England (BoE) carried out no change to its monetary policy during its meeting yesterday. Interest rate remains at 0.10% with all eight voting committee members voting for no change. Quantitative easing (QE) remains at £895 billion in total. Michael Saunders, one of the hawks of BoE, voted for a reduction in government bonds purchase by £45 billion. Overall positive outlook of the UK economy in the near future. In the quarterly release of the BoE’s monetary policy report, the central bank said that the “impact of COVID on the UK economy fades further over time” although the Delta variant of the virus continues to spread in the UK. The confidence on the economic recovery led to the central bank’s positive revision of its economic projections. Economic Projections: For year 2021, UK GDP: 7.25 (7.25) CPI Inflation: 4.00 (2.50) Unemployment Rate: 4.75 (5.00) For year 2022, UK GDP: 6.00 (5.75) CPI Inflation: 4.00 (2.50) Unemployment Rate: 4.75 (5.00) For year 2023, UK GDP: 1.50 (1.25) CPI Inflation: 2.00 (2.00) Unemployment Rate: 4.25 (4.25) *Figures shown in parentheses refers to projections from May 2021 The BoE expects the UK economy to return to pre-pandemic level during the fourth quarter of 2021. As with the other major central banks, the BoE also felt that the recent rise in inflation is due to transitory factors. With the ceasing of the UK furlough scheme at the end of September, BoE Governor Andrew Bailey highlighted that unemployment was “no longer expected to rise”. He also mentioned that the challenge for the economy now is whether employers can fill up the job vacancies. On the matter of QE. Little was mentioned on QE during this meeting. The BoE said towards the end of its rate statement that “should the economy evolve broadly in line with the central projections in the August Monetary Policy Report, some modest tightening of monetary policy over the forecast period is likely to be necessary to be consistent with meeting the inflation target sustainably in the medium term”. The committee members also intend to start unloading the bond purchased by the central bank when interest rate has risen to 0.5% and will consider to do so actively when interest rate is at least 1%. According to the BoE, interest rate is projected to be at 0.5% by the third quarter of 2024. Hence, it is likely that the central bank will be holding on to its purchases at least in the near future. Interest Rate Projection: 2022 Q3: 0.2% 2023 Q3: 0.4% 2024 Q3: 0.5%
by GH_Lee