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Norges Bank Inflation Report, July 2004
Norway's central bank, Norges Bank, has published its latest Inflation Report for July 2004. The report says inflation is low and since the March Inflation Report, it has moved in line with projections. Inflation is being restrained by the appreciation…
Fed Reserve Bank of St Louis Review, Jul/Aug 2004
The latest edition of the St Louis Fed's Review for July-August 2004 contains proceedings of the Twenty-Eighth Annual Economic Policy Conference of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and includes articles "Is inflation targeting best-practice monetary…
Reddy on financial stability: Indian experience
In a speech on 'Financial stability: Indian experience' given on 27 June, Dr YV Reddy of the Reserve Bank of India said in the context of ongoing reforms in the financial sector in India, the regulatory regime has also undergone certain fundamental…
Can debt crises be self-fulfilling?
Several papers argue that debt crises can be the result of self-fulfilling expectations that no one will lend to a country. This IMF Working Paper says this type of coordination failure can be eliminated by a combination of state-contingent securities…
Sharp rise in euro note circulation
While the euro-area's economy may be sluggish, demand for the euro - as hard cash - has started to take off. This weeks CentralBankNet Monday special suggests the euro's bid to challenge the dollar as the world's hoarded currency has truly begun.
QC ends BCCI address after record 79 days
The longest opening address in English legal history ended on Thursday 1 July with Gordon Pollock, QC, winding up the evidence that liquidators of the collapsed Bank of Credit and Commerce International are citing in the £850m damages suit versus the…
Hosokawa calls for flexible BOJ policy
Koichi Hosokawa, who on Friday 2 July took over as the top career official at the Ministry of Finance in Japan, said he wants the Bank of Japan to implement "flexible" monetary policy amid a rise in long-term bond yields.
Dutch and Belgians plan to scrap small change
The Netherlands and Belgium have indicated that they will soon scrap the one and two cent euro coins, EUobserver reports.
Turkey to introduce new lira notes
Turkey has already completed the printing of the first run of the new one lira note and delivered them to branches of the Central Bank, the deputy chairman of the Turkish Central Bank announced on Thursday 1 July.
Arhar says Slovenia not ready for euro
Slovenia is not sufficiently prepared to enter the Exchange Rate Mechanism II (ERM II), France Arhar, chairman of the Slovene branch of Bank Austria Creditanstalt, told the weekly Mag, saying that the country is experiencing unusual circumstances in long…
EurAsEC central banks celebrate 10th anniversary
The council of the chiefs of the central banks of EurAsEC countries held their 10th anniversary session in Bishkek last week.
Reserve Bank of New Zealand Bulletin, Jun 2004
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has published its quarterly Bulletin for June 2004. The June issue contains articles spanning most of the Reserve Bank's core functions including "What drives the New Zealand dollar?". In addition, for the first time the…
Trichet and Caruana on Basel II
The BIS published on 1 July the opening remarks by Jean-Claude Trichet and Jaime Caruana at the press conference announcing the publication of Basel II, held on 26 June.
The development of statistics for EMU - ECB book
The European Central Bank published a book on 2 July recording the work to develop statistics for Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Part A of the book concerns the preparatory work in the years 1992 - 98. Part B describes the numerous enhancements made…
FOMC minutes, 4 May, show worries over inflation
Minutes from the Federal Reserve's 4 May FOMC meeting released on 1 July showed that nearly two months before the Fed raised short-term interest rates on Wednesday, some board members made it clear that they were more worried about inflation than Alan…
BoE's Lomax on reasons for raising interest rates
In a speech given on 1 July, Rachel Lomax of the Bank of England said that "the UK emerged from the slowdown in the world economy with less slack than other economies. That is the key reason why we were the first to start raising interest rates".
ECB's new HQ begins to take shape
The construction of the new European Central Bank headquarters in Frankfurt moved one step closer this week with demolition work on the former site of the Grossmarkthalle (wholesale market) due to begin on Thursday 1 July.
FSA chief gets £109,000 pay boost
John Tiner, chief executive of the UK's Financial Services Authority, received a £109,752 rise in his total remuneration last year, according to the regulator.
S-N Korea's central bankers meet for first time
The heads of the central banks from North and South Korea met for the first time last Saturday, 26 June, in Switzerland.
Fed appoints new General Counsel
The Federal Reserve Board on Tuesday 29 June announced the appointment of Scott G. Alvarez as its General Counsel, effective July 1, 2004.
Sunil Mendis appointed governor in Sri Lanka
Sunil Mendis has been appointed Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka for a six-year term. He replaces A.S.Jayawardena whose term of office finished on Wednesday 30 June.
Trichet says ECB not influenced by Fed, BoE
European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet said Thursday, at the ECB's post meeting press conference after it left eurozone interest rates unchanged, that the ECB is not being influenced by decisions of the Federal Reserve, Bank of England and…
Russian PM proposes central bank restructuring
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov has suggested the Russian central bank consider its restructuring at a government meeting on Thursday.
World should expect further rate rises says King
The world economy is set on a new trend of gradually higher interest rates, the governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, said in an interview published Thursday. He also said UK house prices had been "very important" in recent months in MPC meeting…