Central Banking staff
Follow Central Banking
Articles by Central Banking staff
Chancellor cautious on early UK euro entry
UK - Gordon Brown, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, gave a cautious welcome to UK entry to the euro at his mansion house speech on 20 June.
Speech by Gordon Brown at the Mansion House
SPEECH - Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer, at the UK Treasury has spoken at the 2001 Lord Mayor's Dinner for Bankers and Merchants of the City of London, 20 June.
Speech by Edward George at the Mansion House
SPEECH - The Rt Hon Sir Edward George, Governor of the Bank of England gave a speech at the 2001 Lord Mayor's Dinner for Bankers and Merchants of the City of London, 20 June.
Bank of Japan Monthly Report June 2001
RESEARCH - The Bank of Japan has produced its Monthly Report of Recent Economic and Financial Developments for June 2001.
Condition of the U.S. banking system
US - Federal Reserve Board chairman Alan Greenspan testified before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs at the U.S. Senate on 20 June.
Arab central bank hits out
UAE - The UAE central bank has lashed out at a US report claiming the Emirates is in 'the second category' in relation to money laundering.
Europe can learn from UK's decimal currency switch
UK - The conversion to a decimal currency in Britain in 1971 may have lessons for the introduction of euro notes and coins in January next year.
Euro € - Dutch prepare for switch with free coins
NETHERLANDS - The Dutch government has extravagent plans to prepare its people for the arrival of new euro notes and coins on 1 January 2002. Alone among the participating countries, the Dutch will put free coins in everyone's pocket before the…
Bank of England minutes show rates firmly on hold
UK - The Bank of England has published the minutes to it's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held on 5 and 6 June. The minutes show that the MPC were strongly in favour of keeping interest rates on hold.
Protest fear forces World Bank switch
SPAIN - The World Bank has decided to hold an annual development conference in cyberspace after protesters threatened to disrupt the event.
Argentina's new measures to combat recession
ARGENTINA - Argentina is preparing to implement it's latest package of measures aimed at wresting the country out of a three-year recession and staving off a potential debt default.
Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin - Summer 2001
RESEARCH - A section of the bulletin, Markets and Operations, reviews developments in international and domestic financial markets, drawing on information from the Bank of England's market contacts, and describes the Bank's market operations in the…
Basle 2 'Developing countries fear poor loan loss'
GUATEMALA - The Basle 2 regulations, requiring banks in industrialised countries to make increased provisions for loans to their counterparts in developing countries, would make funds more expensive and scarce for those countries classed as the biggest…
Basle 2 'rules will leave banks short of capital'
SWITZERLAND - New rules on the amount of capital international banks must hold have been criticised as failing to meet necessary standards for the regulation of the global banking industry. It is suggested that banks will have an incentive to 'game' the…
Soros avoids the euro
EUROPE - In an interview with the German Sunday newspaper, Welt Am Sontag, George Soros says that betting on the euro is a mug's game.
Cathy Minehan, President Boston Fed Reserve Bank
SPEECH - Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President and Chief Executive Officer, Cathy Minehan spoke on 18 June at the Boston Municipal Research Bureau Semi-Annual Meeting, Swissotel, Boston, Massachusetts.
Euro € - Five economic tests have not started yet
UK - Chancellor Gordon Brown has quashed speculation that assessment of the five tests necessary for Britain's entry in the single currency have already begun and narrowly avoided a 'banana skin' during a BBC radio interview on 18 June.
Chilean economy minister leaves post for bank seat
CHILE - Chile's Economy Minister Jose de Gregorio announced late on 18 June that he will step down from his post in order to seek congressional approval to join the Central Bank's five-member monetary policymaking board.
Mervyn King at the Cardiff Business School, Wales
SPEECH - The Deputy Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King spoke at Cardiff University on 18 June. He suggested that growing imbalances in the UK economy risk sharp swings in inflation and growth and an uncontrollable fall in sterling.
Euro € - Warning on readiness for euro
USA - Oracle, the world's second largest software company, has warned that companies could hit an "information technology bottleneck" in the run-up to the introduction of euro notes and coins on 1 January.
Tax havens act to avoid sanctions
CARIBBEAN - Some Caribbean tax havens are tightening anti-money laundering rules in an attempt to avoid punitive action threatened by the world's biggest economies.
Euro-zone inflation over 3 percent for first time
EUROPE - Inflation in the 12-nation euro-zone soared to 3.4 percent in May, a surprisingly high increase that pushed the rate above 3 percent for the first time since the European single currency was launched in January 1999.
Welteke - UK exchange rate problem for euro entry
GERMANY - Bundesbank President Ernst Welteke said on 18 June the chances for a UK entry into European Monetary Union have increased with the re-election of the Labour government, but the current high exchange rate of sterling is a problem.
Bank of Japan makes policy board appointment
JAPAN - Shin Nakahara has been appointed to the policy board of the Bank of Japan. He succeeds Susumu Taketomi whose term has ended. Nakahara was deputy president of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.