German hawk to chair bank of central banks
THE BANK for International Settlements (Bis), a bank for, and owned by, the world’s central banks, has appointed German central bank president Jens Weidmann as its chairman.
Weidmann has been known for his stance that errs against policy easing. However, in his new role he will have little influence over the action of central banks.
He has been critical of the European Central Bank’s recently introduced stimulus programme, known as quantitative easing. The policy uses newly created money to buy mostly government bonds.
He says the money printing programme effectively bails out irresponsible governments, both by buying their debt and reducing their borrowing costs, but also by allowing them to delay unpopular reforms to their economies.
Weidmann succeeds Christian Noyer, who will serve as chairman until he retires as governor of the Bank of France on 31 October.
The Swiss-based Bis facilitates cooperation between national central banks. It also encompasses the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, which sets rules on capital and liquidity requirements for a number of countries including the UK.