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Swiss National Bank - Annual Report 2000
REPORT - The Swiss National Bank has produced its annual report 2000. It reviews a year in which GDP grew and unemployment declined significantly in Switzerland, inflation rose slightly but still remained below 2%.
Speech by Fed governor Laurence H Meyer
SPEECH - Federal Reserve governor Laurence H. Meyer has given a speech before the New York Association for Business Economics and The Downtown Economists, New York on 6 June.
US economist offered key IMF role
US - A conservative economist aligned with the US administration has been offered the key job of first deputy managing director at the International Monetary Fund.
Thank you, academics, for making up my mind
UK - A letter signed by 15 leading UK academics supporting Britain's entry into the euro has provoked several passionate responses.
Speech by Paul O'Neill on the future of the IMF
SPEECH - Paul O'Neill, Secretary of the US Treasury, gave a speech on 22 May to the House Committee on Financial Services. In it he sets forth his vision of the IMF as a more focused and limited institution.
Police warn euro notes may make crime easier
EUROPE - The high value of euro banknotes may make financial crime easier by enabling criminals who transfer cash across borders to cram more money into briefcases, European police fear.
Malta Central Bank re-appoints governor
MALTA - Michael Bonello has been re-appointed as governor of the central bank of Malta. He was appointed by the President on the advice of the prime minister for a second two-year term until October 2003. The announcement was made on 5 June.
Bank Indonesia Real Time Gross Settlement BI-RTGS
ARTICLE - Bank Indonesia began operating a Real Time Gross Settlement system in Bandung area on 5 June. With this system, inter-bank payments are settled in real time where the participant bank's accounts can be debited/credited several times per day.
Communicating Canadian monetary policy
SPEECH - Paul Jenkins, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada has made a speech titled 'Communicating Canadian monetary policy: towards greater transparency'. He was speaking at the Ottawa Economics Association, Ottawa, on 22 May.
Top economists say UK should join euro
UK - Fifteen of the country's most eminent economists have urged the UK Government to join the euro in a letter to the Financial Times in London.
Blair may be serious about single currency entry
UK - British prime minister Tony Blair is being seen as serious about campaigning for British participation in the single currency, the euro, after the UK general election which will be held tomorrow, 7 June.
Bank of England maintains interest rates at 5.25%
UK - The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has left UK interest rates unchanged. The committee met on 6 June and the decision to leave rates unchanged was widely expected by economists.
Asia and the IMF
SPEECH - Stanley Fischer, First Deputy Managing Director at the International Monetary Fund spoke about Asia's relationship with the IMF at the Institute of Policy Studies, Singapore on 1 June.
New Thai bank governor plans radical changes
THAILAND - Pridiyathorn Devakula, the new governor of the Bank of Thailand, who formally took charge of the bank on 5 June, plans radical changes to monetary policy in Thailand.
Bahrain urges Islamic banks to merge
BAHRAIN - Bahrain, the Gulf's financial centre, on 5 June urged Islamic banks to consolidate or increase their capital to help them compete with conventional banks on financing major projects.
Run a central bank with new Swiss computer game
SWITZERLAND - The Swiss National Bank has recently posted a new computer game onto its web site. For anyone aspiring to hold the reins of a nation's economy this provides a new and novel way to hone the skills for central banking and take charge of a…
IMF backs gold
US - A senior IMF official has made a statement about gold that in the view of experts is the first of any significance made since the Board's discussion of this subject in 1995.
Asian common currency idea given cautious welcome
SINGAPORE - Asia's economies will have to integrate further before they start thinking about creating their own monetary union, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, the managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, said on 4 June.
Ed Kelley to resign from Federal Reserve Board
US - The Federal Reserve Board has released the following statement from Governor Edward W. Kelley, Jr., announcing his plans to resign from the Board after at least one of the current vacancies is filled.
Bank of Canada appoints visiting special adviser
CANADA - The Bank of Canada has appointed John Chant to fill the visiting economist position of special adviser to the bank. Chant is a professor at Simon Fraser University in Canada. He will serve for a one-year term starting in September 2001.
Banks continue self-regulation
UK - Banks and building societies should continue with self-regulation of accounts, the UK Treasury has been told by a high-powered committee it appointed to review the system.
Central Bank of Algeria's web site 'hacked into'
ALGERIA - The Central Bank of Algeria's web site has been hacked into by persons unknown.
Bank of Latvia - Annual Report 2000
ANNUAL REPORT - The Bank of Latvia has published its Annual Report 2000. It says that results were better than projected and were above the average level in the region. This was partly a result of economic reform in Latvia and the bank's monetary policy.
Duisenberg speech on central bank responsibilities
SPEECH - Wim Duisenberg, President of the European Central Bank, gave a speech at the Central Bankers' Panel at the International Monetary Conference, Singapore on 4 June. The speech was titled What exactly is the responsibility of central banks of large…