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De Grauwe labels Maastricht rules political tools
The Maastricht criteria for euro adoption are political instruments, not economically-vital measures, a respected economist has said.
G20 working group: development banks must lend now
Multilateral development banks and other international financial institutions should step up their counter-cyclical efforts to offset capital flight from emerging markets, says a report from a working group prepared for the G20 London summit.
Blame technology for bankruptcies
Technological progress has a significant effect on the bankruptcy rate, a new paper from the Richmond Federal Reserve posits.
SA's Mminele on Southern Africa's goals
The Southern African Development Community's goal is to achieve a single currency and a regional central bank by 2018, said Daniel Mminele, an executive general manager of the South African Reserve Bank.
Bernanke sees shoots of recovery
There are tentative signs that the sharp decline in economic activity may be slowing, said Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve.
US working on stress-test disclosure: report
Washington is working on proposals to disclose the results of its stress tests on the 19 biggest American banks, say reports.
Fed planning communication enhancements: reports
The Federal Reserve looks set to bow to political pressure and disclose more details of its various attempts to tackle the crisis, which have led to the central bank's balance sheet more than doubling in size.
Tokyo seeks meeting with Shirakawa on economy woe
A senior Japanese politician has called for a meeting with Masaaki Shirakawa, the governor of Bank of Japan, apparently to ask the central bank to do more to abate the economic downturn.
Fiji sacks Narube and devalues dollar
The Reserve Bank of Fiji devalued the Fiji dollar by 20% on Wednesday hours after Savenaca Narube, the governor, was removed from the central bank by government officials.
Crisis highlights shortfalls in UK payments: BoE
The financial crisis has uncovered uncertainties and knowledge gaps among market participants in the United Kingdom's payment and settlement infrastructure, the Bank of England said on Tuesday.
Pyramid firms have more debt
Controlling shareholders in pyramid firms, a structure where an ultimate owner uses indirect ownership to maintain control over a large group of companies, use debt to secure their private benefits, new research from the Bank of Canada posits.
G20 working group: amend Bretton Woods governance
Emerging and developing economies should have greater voice and representation in Bretton Woods institutions, says a report from a working group prepared for the G20 London summit.
Monies contain embedded options
The face values of all notes and coins contain embedded options, argues a new paper written by Espen Gaarder Haug and John Stevenson, two quantitative-finance analysts.
Iceland's Oygard optimistic on recovery
Svein Oygard, the new governor of the Central Bank of Iceland, is confident that the country can become an exemplar of how to conduct a swift economic recovery.
Tarp to get new head, Goldman to repay funds
Reports emerged on Tuesday that the head of Fannie Mae would replace Bush-administration appointee Neel Kashkari as the overseer of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (Tarp). The news came after Goldman Sachs announced on Monday a $5 billion public…
Poland seeks $20.5 billion IMF credit line
Poland on Tuesday became the second country to ask for access to the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) new credit lines, requesting $20.5 billion to buttress the country against the crisis.
UAE sees assets depreciate by a third
The value of the assets held by Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates fell by almost a third last year, the central bank revealed on Tuesday.
ECB dissenter Orphanides heralds deflation threat
Athanasios Orphanides, the governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus and a staunch advocate of a looser monetary-policy stance, has warned of the increasing threat of the eurozone deflation.
REVIEW: Central Banking in a Free Society
The crisis has shown the need for privately-owned central banks, says Tim Congdon, a monetary economist, in a new book.
Nigeria cuts for first time in seven months
The Central Bank of Nigeria sliced 175 basis points off its key interest rate on Thursday with the scarcity of credit outweighing concerns over inflation.