Central bankers form defensive alliance in face of mounting criticism

Tokyo

EMBATTLED Bank of Japan (BOJ) governor Haruhiko Kuroda has been given some cover by the European Central Bank's (ECB) decision to launch monetary easing, and by Bank of England (BOE) governor Mark Carney's weekend defence of inflation targeting. But markets could deliver a harsh verdict on central-bank actions, analysts say.

With the ECB having joined the BOJ and the BOE in monetary easing, while the US Federal Reserve prepares to begin tightening policy, the swings in interest rates and exchange rates these involve are likely to expose central bankers to mounting criticism and market reaction, some suggest.

Markets were subject to another major shock earlier this month when the Swiss National Bank suddenly abandoned a cap on the Swiss franc that it had imposed in 2011. This sent the Swiss currency soaring dramati…