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ECB Monthly Bulletin, May 2004
The European Central Bank published its May 2004 Monthly Bulletin on 13 May. The ECB's regular quarterly "Survey of Professional Forecasters", contained in the report said the experts had revised downwards their growth forecast for this year to 1.6…
Nyberg: Economic situation & the property market
Deputy Governor of the Sveriges Riksbank Lars Nyberg spoke Wednesday 12 May about the economic situation and the property market. He said price developments in the housing market are being talked about as a possible bubble and pose a risk of overheating.
Fukui on economic growth and overcoming deflation
In the speech 'Achieving Sustainable Economic Growth and Overcoming Deflation' given on 13 May Toshihiko Fukui of the Bank of Japan said the BOJ will continue its extremely easy monetary policy in order to support private sector efforts to deal with…
Tumpel-Gugerell: ECB role in financial integration
In the speech 'The Role of the ECB in Financial Integration' given on 11 May Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell of the ECB said the euro area offers opportunities to share risk and to allocate capital more efficiently to investment opportunities across all…
ECB's Issing on asset prices and monetary policy
In the speech 'Financial Integration, Asset Prices and Monetary Policy' given on 10 May Otmar Issing of the ECB said other central banks have started to give greater weight to asset price developments. The RBNZ is a point in case he said. This release…
Unpopular measures needed for Cyprus euro adoption
Cyprus Central Bank Governor Christodoulos Christodoulou said Tuesday the government must take "unpopular" measures to reign in public spending to achieve its target of adopting the euro in 2007.
Africa's first polymer banknotes to stay
Africa's first and only polymer banknotes, issued by the Bank of Zambia, will remain in circulation despite their disappointing performance, the bank said Tuesday 11 May.
New IMF chief Rato says oil rise abrupt
New IMF managing director Rodrigo Rato said at his first news conference surging oil prices were disrupting financial markets. He also said the world economy was in an upswing with the prospect of only moderate changes in interest rates ahead.
BOJ must watch for overshoot in yields, Nakahara
Bank of Japan policy board member Shin Nakahara said on Wednesday that the BOJ must watch for any overshooting in long-term yields, in an attempt to reduce concerns as the economy recovers and speculation of a policy switch arises.
BOJ buys Y1.98 trln shares to May 10
The Bank of Japan said on Wednesday it had bought a cumulative 1.9799 trillion yen ($17.53 billion) of shares held by Japanese banks by May 10 under a programme aimed at reducing banks' exposure to stock market volatility.
Bergstrom on monetary policy & economic stability
In the speech 'Monetary policy and economic stability' given on 12 May Villy Bergstrom of the Sveriges Riksbank said there are dangers associated with the large interest rate cut enacted at the start of April because of the already robust international…
Minutes from the Sveriges Riksbank Meeting, 28 Apr
Minutes of the Sveriges Riksbank Executive Board meeting on 28 April, published 12 May. One member summed up the discussion saying that as Swedish GDP growth would probably be somewhat more robust than forecast in the Inflation Report, inflation could…
Consensus achieved on Basel II proposals
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision announced Monday 11 May that it has achieved consensus on the remaining issues regarding the proposals for a new international capital standard, known as Basel II.
Bank of England Inflation Report, May 2004
The Bank of England published its May 2004 Inflation Report on 12 May. The report said inflation will accelerate above its 2 percent target by early 2006 and that the economy will expand quicker than it had forecast in February.
Santomero on monetary policy and the economy
In the speech 'Monetary policy and the economy' given on 11 May Anthony Santomero of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said US monetary policy is unlikely to turn "restrictive" as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates at "a measured pace" in…
Chicago Fed's Moskow on the US economic outlook
In the speech 'U.S. Economic Outlook' given on 11 May Michael Moskow of the Chicago Fed said while the rate of U.S. inflation appears to be on the rise, the increase is not substantial enough to worry about. He also said the current degree of policy…
Persson: China increasingly important for Sweden
Sveriges Riksbank Deputy Governor Kristina Persson gave a speech Tuesday at the Umea Association for Foreign Affairs. The speech was entitled "What can China's economic development entail for Sweden?" Persson said "the increase in growth in China means…
Taylor says flexible yuan would ease overheating
The US has continued its pressure on China to move to a more flexible exchange rate system, with Treasury Under Secretary John Taylor saying Monday such a switch would help ease the overheating now being seen in the economy.
Hungary's Draskovics to propose 2010 euro entry
Finance minister Tibor Draskovics has said he will recommend to the government that Hungary set 2010 as the target date for introducing the euro.
Issing:Central bank shouldn't try to prick bubbles
Central banks should not try to prick asset price bubbles in property or stock markets, but they do need to take account of asset price developments when setting interest rates, ECB chief economist Otmar Issing said.
US Treasury's Snow says no worry on inflation
US Treasury Secretary John Snow said on Monday he was not concerned about the potential for rising prices and interest rates, saying the economy had lots of room to grow without inflation.
Fed's McTeer sees no recession from oil hikes
Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert McTeer said in a comment piece in the Wall Street Journal on Monday that despite the increase in energy prices, the United States will not go into a recession as it has during previous jumps in energy costs.
OECD Economic Outlook, May 2004
The OECD published the May 2004 edition of its Economic Outlook on 11 May. In the report it said the OECD raised its forecasts for economic growth this year and next and said the Fed should start raising interest rates in the middle of this year to keep…
Poole on Government Sponsored Enterprises
In the speech 'Panel on Government Sponsored Enterprises' given on 6 May William Poole of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said the capital positions of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and their quasi-government status remain a lingering threat to…