Good morning, New York, Yes, but how much did China REALLY grow in 2012? How about 5.5%? Kate has read read two very interesting and distinct pieces of analysis today that raise quite dramatic questions about China's GDP data. Yes, she knows you probably weren't too credulous to begin with, but the details of both are interesting. Turning mobile money into M0: Izzy follows up the post below with a longer explanation of why central banks need to realise the importance of taking charge of their digital currency first. Essentially, the longer they take to realise this one fact, the more de-centralised the currency market will likely get, and the more difficult it will be to recover control over pure monetary base. Why central banks should take charge of their digital currencies: The mobile money/virtual currency arena is getting more and more crowded. Izzy takes a look at the latest innovations and the possibilities they represent for central banks - particularly if they realise they may never be able to prevent the digitisation of cash, start pre-empting the trend and skewing it to their advantage. Alphachat returns: Five Alphavillians had a long chat about a bunch of stuff for your amusement. As a bonus, Lisa does a ten minute turn as a Dutch gentleman. At the weekend, global finance ministers "signaled Japan has scope to keep stimulating its stagnant economy as long as policy makers cease publicly advocating a sliding yen." (Bloomberg) Meanwhile Japan's prime minister Shinzo Abe said: "It would be necessary to proceed with revising the BOJ law if the central bank cannot produce results under its own mandate," referring to the new 2 per cent inflation target. (Wall Street Journal) The yen had slid 0.6 per cent against the dollar at pixel time and has now lost 18.5 per cent since mid-November. UK defeated over banker pay curbs: The most stringent curbs on bankers" pay since the 2008 financial crisis are to be imposed by the EU, as Britain faces defeat in Brussels over an issue dear to the City of London." Obama's plan sees 8-year wait for illegal immigrants: "A plan by President Obama for an overhaul of the immigration system would put illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship that could begin after about eight years and would require them to go to the back of the line behind legal applicants, according to a draft of the legislation that the White House has circulated in the administration." Chavez is home: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez made a surprise return from Cuba on Monday more than two months after surgery for cancer that threatens to end his 14-year rule of the South American OPEC member. He had not been seen or heard in public since then until photos were published of him on Friday. Natixis to cut ties to retail lenders: "Natixis, part of the mutual bank Groupe BPCE, said it plans to sell the 20% stake it holds in the regional lenders Banques Populaires and Caisses d'Epargne back to those banks, for €12.1 billion ($16.17 billion) ." Not so sterling: More speculators are shorting the pound than buying it for the first time in five months, according to figures from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission that are used as a proxy for activity in the global hedge fund community. Markets: High-profile risk appetite gauges allude to the tentative tone. But that gain for Asia was mainly the result of a 2.1 per cent surge for the Nikkei 225 as investors welcomed another fall for the yen according to the FT's Global Markets tosher Jamie Chisholm.