Central Banking staff
Follow Central Banking
Articles by Central Banking staff
Australian interest rates 'to soar'
AUSTRALIA - Interest rates may have to rise by two percentage points in Australia to cut the risk of overheating, the country's central bank chief has warned.
Fed's McTeer-US rebound like 'jobless recovery'
CANADA - Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert McTeer said on Thursday that the US economy's rebound from recession resembled a jobless recovery.
Chicago Fed national index negative in April
USA - The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said on Thursday its National Activity Index was mired in negative territory for the 22nd consecutive month in April at a level of -0.22.
IMF approves Zambian funds
ZAMBIA - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved $317m (£216.4m) financing for Zambia's 2002 economic plan to target poverty reduction.
Moody's downgrades Japan by two more notches
JAPAN - Ratings agency Moody's Investors Service has downgraded government bonds issued by Japan - the world's second biggest economy - by two notches to the same status as those from Latvia and Poland.
Eurozone inflation falls but M3 grows
GERMANY - A marked drop in euro zone inflation in May strengthened beliefs that the ECB will hold fire on interest rates, although its key money gauge M3 moved further away from its benchmark of 4.5%, growing to 7.5% from 7.3% in March.
Speech by David Carse, HKMA, 24 May
SPEECH - David Carse, deputy chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, gave a speech titled 'Documentation risk, operational risk and the New Capital Accord' to the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association at the JW Marriott Hotel in Hong Kong, 24…
Speech by Guy Quaden, N. Bank of Belgium, 14 May
SPEECH - Guy Quaden, governor of the National Bank of Belgium, gave a keynote address at the OECD Forum in Paris titled 'The Euro - a milestone on the path of European integration and a contribution to world economy stability' on 14 May 2002.
Danmarks Nationalbank - Financial Stability 2002
REPORT - Danmarks Nationalbank has published a new annual publication on financial stability in Denmark. Governor Bodil Nyboe Andersen said, "Our analyses show that overall Danish banking institutions are robust, but there has been a slight decrease in…
Japan's Balance of Payments for 2001
REPORT - In the balance of payments for 2001, the current account surplus registered 11.1 trillion yen, a decline from the surplus of 12.6 trillion yen in 2000. The capital and financial account recorded a net outflow of 7.0 trillion yen, down from a net…
Speech by Ian Macfarlane of the RBA, 31 May
SPEECH - Ian Macfarlane, governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, delivered his twice-yearly opening statement to House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics, Finance and Public Administration on 31 May.
HKMA Quarterly Bulletin - May 2002
REPORT - The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has issued its Quarterly Bulletin for May 2002. It includes one article comparing the flexibility in Argentina and Hong Kong, and others examining exchange rate and monetary policy in Hong Kong.
South Asian bankers to discuss clearing issues
SRI LANKA - Amid fears of war between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, while Sri Lanka struggles for peace, South Asian central bank officials meet this week to improve processes that would boost trade in the region.
Wadhwani - Inflation forecasts overestimate threat
UK - Reaching for an analogy to explain what the Bank of England's monetary policy committee has got wrong, Sushil Wadhwani turns to the wisdom of one of the cricketing legends: Geoff Boycott in an interview with the Financial Times.
Murray Sherwin favourite in poll for RBNZ governor
NEW ZEALAND - Murray Sherwin, a former Reserve Bank of New Zealand deputy governor, is the best person to take the bank's top job according to a poll of New Zealand based economists conducted by Dow Jones Newswires.
Brazil central bank sees '02 inflation over 5 pct
BRAZIL - Brazil's central bank projected inflation this year of "slightly above" 5 percent, according to minutes of its rate-setting meeting last week released Wednesday.
Loyalty not on RBA cards
FEATURE - Ian Macfarlane and his Reserve Bank appear set on making their proposed changes to the open card schemes, Bankcard, Mastercard and Visa, by the end of the year, regardless of the growing belief the "reforms" will harm the people the central…
BOJ's Hayami says forex must be watched closely
JAPAN - Bank of Japan Governor Masaru Hayami said on Thursday he wanted to closely watch moves in the foreign exchange market, adding the recent rise in the yen was due to caution on the U.S. economy and hopes for a recovery in Japan.
Outgoing MPC member raises bank independence fears
UK - The independence of the Bank of England could be at risk if it continues to undershoot its target for inflation, a member of the Bank's monetary policy committee has warned.
Speech by Sirkka Hamalainen of the ECB, 30 May
SPEECH - In a speech titled 'The role of the euro in global capital markets' Hamalainen described the euro as a global currency and said that the aim and goal of the Eurosystem should be to strengthen the integration and economic performance of the EU…
ECB Working Paper Series
RESEARCH - The Spanish block of the ESCB-multi-country model, by Alpo Willman and Angel Estrada, May 2002.
Ian exits
FEATURE - The FT's Observer writes on Thursday, farewell Ian Plenderleith - sphinx-like to the end. At a Tuesday night retirement bash for the Bank of England director, his boss Eddie George preserved Plenderleith's legendary reputation as a backroom…
Coo!
FEATURE - Sushil Wadhwani's tenure as a member of the Bank of England's interest rate setting committee comes to an end on Friday. The Financial Times, in its Observer column on Thursday, couldn't help making one last joke about Wadhwani's dovish…
Argentina debates economic law change
ARGENTINA - Argentine senators are due to discuss whether to repeal a controversial law which has been putting off international lenders on Thursday.