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Stock market consolidation to help euro - Reynders
Belgian Finance Minister Didier Reynders said on Jan. 30 that "technical measures" were needed to stimulate foreign investor interest in the euro, singling out further stock market consolidation.Reynders said also that with the introduction of euro notes…
BOK head Chon hints at rate cuts in Feb. 2001
Chon Chol-whan, governor of the Bank of Korea (BOK), hinted on Jan. 29 that the central bank may slash the interest rate next month in a bid to bring the sliding economy to a halt. But, at the same time, he warned of "worrisome" high inflation for 2001,…
Fed meets, seen cutting rates sharply Jan. 31
The U.S. Federal Reserve began a two-day meeting on Jan. 30 amid widespread conviction it will cut interest rates by another half a percentage point to pump life into the world's largest economy.While the meeting started at 9 a.m. (1400 GMT) Jan. 30, an…
Current role of national central banks in the ESCB
This paper by Eduard Hochreiter describes in some detail the tasks currently performed by the national central banks of the Eurosystem, using the Oesterreichische Nationalbank as an example. it does so against the background of the regime shift to the…
Egypt to value pound vs currency basket eventually
Egypt's Economy and Foreign Trade Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali said on Jan. 29 the Egyptian pound would eventually be valued against a basket of currencies, rather than the dollar as now."We are waiting to move to a basket of currencies when the time…
Bank of Canada forecasts 3 percent growth
The Bank of Canada estimates the Canadian economy will expand by 3 percent in 2001 after growing at a rate of 5 percent in 2000, Deputy Governor Sheryl Kennedy said on Jan. 29, 2001. "The Canadian economy has been performing well in recent years and we…
Malawi launches SADC fund for the poor
Malawi has launched an ambitious 15m pound sterling fund for projects targeting the poor in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The Financial Deepening Challenge Fund (FDCF), sponsored by the Department for International Development of the…
Taiwan will adopt loose monetary policy
Taiwan central bank governor Perng Fai-nan said on Jan. 29, 2001, the bank would adopt an "appropriately loose" monetary policy, and would consider following suit if the U.S. cuts rates at the end of the month. The central bank would also fully supply…
BOJ Hayami-economy moderately recovering
Bank of Japan Governor Masaru Hayami reiterated Jan. 29 that while the economy is gradually recovering, the pace of growth is slowing due to a fall off in exports. "The economy continues to moderately recover, but the tempo is easing due to a…
Thai central bank cuts 2001 growth forecast
Thailand's central bank cut its forecast for 2001 gross domestic product (GDP) growth on Jan. 29, 2001, to 3-4.5 percent from a previous projection of 4-5.5 percent, blaming a U.S. economic slowdown and a faltering domestic recovery. "The evident…
UK's CrestCo goes electronic
London's international settlement house, CrestCo, is proposing to take the risk and cost of errors out of processing takeovers in the UK by replacing the paper form-filling with an electronic process. The proposals for Takeover Procedures in Crest,…
Indonesia bankers still unclear on forex rules
Indonesia's foreign bankers said a meeting with central bank officials late on Jan. 29, 2001, did little to clarify foreign rules which have baffled the market for two weeks. They said the bank promised to issue a circular within the next two days…
IMF to start exploratory talks with Romanian govt
The IMF will visit Bucharest in early February to discuss with the newly elected Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase how he plans to reduce inflation, restructure state-owned industries and create a healthier financial-banking system, the daily…
Slovak c.bank says no room now for rate cuts
The Slovak central bank (NBS) said its board had left interest rates unchanged at a monetary policy meeting on Jan. 29, 2001, and that potential risks to consumer price growth left no room for rate cuts at present. The bank board said it did not see…
Bank of Israel cuts Feb discount rate 30bp to 7.7%
The Bank of Israel said on Jan. 29, 2001, it would lower its discount rate for February by 30 basis points to 7.7% from 8%, saying inflation would be between 1% and 2.5% in 2001. The move is at the top end of forecasts for a cut of between 20 and 30…
Swedish cbank signals steady rates as growth slows
Euro-outsider Sweden's central bank signalled on Jan. 29, 2001, its key repo rate would remain on hold at 4.00 percent, 75 basis points below the euro zone's steering rate, at this week's monetary policy meeting. Riksbank Governor Urban Backstrom said in…
MAS issues insider trading law for consultation
Singapore revealed changes to insider trading laws that will penalize anyone who trades on the insider information regardless of whether the accused has any links to the company. The Monetary Authority of Singapore, the markets regulator and central bank…
Turkey 2001 FDI 'at least' $4bn - ctrl bk governor
Foreign direct investments into Turkey this year will total "at least $4 billion," Turkish central bank governor Gazi Ercel said Jan. 29. This "very high" level of funds will come from the sale of assets including mobile phone licenses by mid-February…
Tonga shuffles cabinet, names new finance minister
The governor of the National Reserve Bank of Tonga has been appointed finance minister of the tiny South Pacific island nation. Siosiua 'Utoikamanu replaced Tutoatasi Fakafanua in the finance portfolio in a wider shake-up of Tonga's 11 member all-male…
Iran bank governor attacked from 'left and right'
According to a report in an Iranian newspaper, in recent weeks and months, political attacks on the Central Bank of Iran and the governor of the bank, Mohsen Nurbakhsh, have intensified dramatically. Analysts said that all political parties had agreed to…
New Egypt forex peg only valid as short-term fix
Egypt's introduction of a "managed peg" for pound-dollar rates may restore exchange rate stability in the short term but will be unsustainable and counterproductive in the long term, analysts said on Jan. 29, 2001. Under the new system the central bank…