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IMF's Rato on capital flows
In a speech given on 28 July Rodrigo de Rato, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said that imposing direct limits or controls on capital inflows sets central banks and private financial institutions against each other.
Italy: annual report 2006
The Italian economy grew at around 1.8% (deflators) in 2006, supported by strong world demand and a cyclical upturn in the euro area.
Geithner: challenges of global integration
Timothy F. Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said that there is growing concern in the US about long-term challenges facing the country, such as the perceived shift in the locus of economic growth away from the US toward Asia.
Nigerian central banker becomes finance minister
The president of Nigeria, Umaru Yar'Adua, appointed Shamsuddeen Usman, a deputy governor at the country's central bank since 1999, as finance minister.
Front-runners to succeed Canada's Dodge
Who will succeed David Dodge when he retires as governor of the Bank of Canada in January 2008? The two favourites are the senior deputy governor, Paul Jenkins, and ex-central banker Mark Carney, now a senior associate deputy minister of finance, but…
Bank of Mexico chief pans welfare programmes
Guillermo Ortiz, governor of the Bank of Mexico, called for a reform of the country's labour laws and said that welfare programmes encouraged the poor not to take regular jobs.
Gambian central bank governor quits
The governor of Gambia's central bank, Famara Jatta, has left the country to take up the less prestigious position of representative of the African Development Bank (ADB) in Sudan.
Developments in Asian insurance markets
This this speech, Low Kwok Mun, the executive director for insurance regulation at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, considers what Asian countries can do to ensure that they attract the required talent in the insurance industry.
Paper on reserve accumulation
This paper suggests that while the hoarding of foreign exchange reserves by emerging-market economies could initially be explained primarily in terms of "self insurance" against global shocks, this explanation increasingly falls short.
Al-Sayari on Saudi banking industry
In this speech, Hamad Saud Al-Sayari, the governor of Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, says the central bank is currently directing the kingdom's banks towards the adoption of Basel II standard by 1st January 2008.
Fed's latest Beige Book
The latest Beige Book of the American Federal Reserve suggests that, on balance, the world's largest economy continues to expand on a balanced path. The report gave very little clues as to the extent and timing of future interest changes.
Fund raises 2007 and 2008 growth forecast
The July update of the World Economic Outlook (WEO) published on 25 July by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) increased the Fund forecast for global economic growth for 2007 and 2008 to 5.2%, from 4.9%.
Unexpected rise in eurozone money supply
Data from the European Central Bank (ECB) released today showed a surprise jump in M3 money supply in the eurozone and loans to the private sector.
Kuwait lets dinar appreciate further
The Central Bank of Kuwait has allowed its currency, the dinar, to appreciate against the dollar for the third time in two months. The dinar subsequently appreciated by 1.7%.
Czech National Bank raises rates
As widely expected the Czech National Bank (CNB) today raised its main interest rate by 25 basis points to 3% in an ongoing rate tightening cycle.
New Zealand raises official cash rate
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has raised its official cash rate (OCR) by 25 basis points to 8.25%, while indicating that further rises may not be necessary.
Global Financial Stability Report - Caruana speech
In this webcast, Jaime Caruana, the director of the monetary and capital markets department of the International Monetary Fund, discusses the main findings of the Fund's April 2007 Global Financial Stability Report.
Fed's Braunstein on fair lending
Sandra F. Braunstein, director of the division of consumer and community affairs of the US Federal Reserve Board, gave testimony on fair lending and the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act on 25 July.
Trichet: no complacency on sub-prime markets
In an interview Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, said he remained cautious of the crisis of the sub-prime market in the United States.
How competition policy affects banks - report
A new report from the ECB finds that as competition policy strengthens banks' share prices rise, but those of non-financial firms fall.
South African inflation remains well above target
Inflation in South Africa remained well above the central bank's target for inflation in June. It was the third consecutive month that inflation, as measured by the central bank's target measure CPIX index, breached the South African Reserve Bank's (SARB…
Bank of Netherlands Antilles to be investigated
The financial supervision exercised by the Bank of the Netherlands Antilles (BNA) is to be checked once more by the Dutch Financial Market Authority (AFM). Last month it was announced that the AFM had found the BNA to be seriously lacking in its…
Malaysian central bank leaves key rate unchanged
The central bank of Malaysia, Bank Negara Malaysia, has left interest rates unchanged at 3.5%. The decision had been widely expected as inflation has eased substantially to 1.4% in June, after averaging 2% in the first six months of this year.
Bank of Italy orders Italease managers to resign
Two senior managers of Banca Italease SpA, a Milan-based leasing company, have been ordered by the Bank of Italy to resign. The central bank said that the company needs to raise capital after it had to spend € 610m ($843m) on unwinding derivatives bets…