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Irish growth rate set to dip says CB
IRELAND - Economic growth in Ireland is set to halve in 2002, but next year should see an upturn, according to the country's central bank.
Vote of confidence for Brazil governor
BRAZIL - The Brazilian government's candidate for presidential elections, Jose Serra, said on Tuesday he hopes to keep Arminio Fraga as president of the central bank if he wins the October vote.
Korean governor hints at rate rises
KOREA - Bank of Korea governor Park Seung signalled on Wednesday that more interest rate rises might be in the pipeline as he stressed the need to curb price pressures in a rapidly expanding economy.
BoJ keeps monetary policy unchanged
JAPAN - Japan's central bank left its monetary policy unchanged Wednesday, sticking to its stance of freeing up cash to circulate through the financial system, reports Dow Jones.
Private sector consensus on sov debt restructuring
PRESS RELEASE - A joint press release issued by private sector financial industry leaders announces a consensus inspired by market-based principles on crisis management and sovereign debt restructuring, June 11.
UAE cb planning supervisory system for hawala
UAE - The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates is devising a licencing and supervisory system for hawala and will host a conference next year to follow up recommendations of an international conference held last May.
Egypt cb opens new check clearing house
EGYPT - The new electronic Cairo Clearing House at the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) was inaugurated yesterday. Its services will be available to banks nationwide and its computerized system will be capable of clearing up to 100,000 cheques a day.
BOK considers redenomination of currency
KOREA - The Bank of Korea is studying ways to reform the present currency unit system by issuing new won notes and coins, in a move to re-denominate the won downward and upgrade its value. This will involve shaving one or two zeros off the won's face…
Reform of Taiwan cb board may improve independence
TAIWAN - Taiwan's cabinet has submitted a reform plan for the board of directors at the Central Bank of China, which focuses on the bank's independent status. Once the amendment is passed by the legislature, the central bank will maintain its supervisory…
Breather won by Bank Indonesia on $1.3bn loans
INDONESIA - Bank Indonesia has reached a rescheduling agreement with the London Club of commercial creditors to extend the repayment period of loans worth around $300 million to 17.5 years, while other loans worth $1 billion will be extended for 10…
Fed ends sanctions against Bank of New York
USA - The Federal Reserve has announced it is terminating its sanction against the Bank of New York because the bank has complied with its agreement to correct alleged deficiencies in preventing money laundering.
Preventing country crises and corporate failures
LETTER - The most recent 'Economic Letter' published on the San Francisco Fed's website concerns 'Country Crises and Corporate Failures: Lessons for Prevention and Management?', by Reuven Glick of the Center for Pacific Basin Monetary and Economic…
IMF Survey, Vol. 31, No. 11, 10 June
SURVEY - The latest fortnightly issue of the IMF Survey includes articles on world military spending, Independent East Timor, the pros and cons of tax incentives, financial development and economic growth, as well as interviews with John Shoven on US…
Gold in the IMF: A Factsheet
FACTSHEET - The IMF has published a factsheet detailing what its gold holdings are, how it acquired them, what its policy is on gold, and how and when it has used its gold in the past.
Speech by Eugenio Domingo Solans, ECB, 11 June
SPEECH - Eugenio Domingo Solans, member of the Governing Council and Executive Board of the ECB, gave a speech titled 'Exchange rate policies in the accession process' to a conference in Tallinn on 'Alternative Exchange Rate Regimes in the Globalised…
Speech by Fed governor Susan S. Bies, 10 June
SPEECH - Fed governor Susan S. Bies delivered a speech on 'Lessons to be Re-Learned from Recent Breakdowns in Corporate Accounting' to the Institute of International Bankers in New York on 10 June. She attempted to outline what should be re-learned from…
Speech by Otmar Issing, ECB, 10 June
SPEECH - At the ECB Watchers conference in Milan on 10 June, Professor Otmar Issing, member of the Executive Board of the ECB, gave a speech on 'Monetary policy and the role of the price stability definition' in which he concludes that the ECB's twin…
Rouble to fall as cb's overnight deposit rate cut
RUSSIA - Despite the theme of continuity in exchange rate policy which was emphasized when Sergei Ignatyev took over as head of the Central Bank of Russia in place of Viktor Gerashchenko earlier this year, the bank has subsequently made moves which imply…
Increased hope that Turkey soon out of recession
TURKEY - A much sharper than expected rise in industrial output in Turkey has raised hopes that the country could soon recover from a deep recession. Industrial output rose 14.1% in April from a year earlier, well above a growth rate of 7.8% as predicted…
Shekel gains slightly on dollar despite rate hike
ISRAEL - The shekel strengthened only slightly on the dollar Monday, despite the Bank of Israel's surprise announcement a day earlier of a sharp hike in interest rates.
Update, B of Israel's Monetary Program, 9 June
PRESS RELEASE - The Bank of Israel today announced an update of its monetary program for June 2002, according to which its interest rate will be raised by 1.5 percent to 7.1 percent. The change will go into effect on Tuesday, 11 June 2002. Thus, the…
Iran's cb to issue bonds despite US sanctions
IRAN - The Central Bank of Iran still plans to issue its first international bond, according to its governor, Mohsen Nourbakhsh. This is despite the withdrawal of Iran's debt rating by Moody's.
Commercial banker made dep chairman of Kazakh cb
KAZAKHSTAN - A new deputy chairman has been appointed to the National Bank of Kazakhstan. Anvar Saydenov, who is 41, was appointed by Kazakhstan's president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, on the recommendation of the central bank.
Bureaucrats compete to replace RBI dep governor
INDIA - There is stiff competition to take the place of the outgoing deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Dr Y. V. Reddy. According to the finance ministry, two senior bureaucrats are jockeying to control this key post which involves…