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Banks shun online sales pitch
UK - Britain's banks and building societies are turning away from the web in their search for new customers.
Speech by U Backstrom of Sveriges Riksbank, 7 Mar
SPEECH - Backstrom said in the speech titled 'Swedens economy and monetary policy' that "if inflation, even disregarding the temporary effects, is above the target initially, activity is entering an upward phase and economic policy's impact on the…
ECB Working Paper Series
RESEARCH - Non-standard central bank loss functions, skewed risks, and certainty equivalence, by Ali al-Nowaihi and Livio Stracca, February 2002.
ECB Press Conference
PRESS CONFERENCE - Introductory statement by Willem F. Duisenberg, President of the European Central Bank, Christian Noyer, Vice-President of the European Central Bank, Frankfurt am Main, 7 March.
Federal Reserve Board - Beige Book
REPORT - Prepared at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and based on information collected before February 26, 2002. This document summarizes comments received from business and other contacts outside the Federal Reserve and is not a commentary on the…
Speech by Fed Reserve Governor Ed Gramlich, 7 Mar
SPEECH - In the speech titled 'Macroeconomic Policy in Recessions--and Other Times' Gramlich said Government reaction to economic hard times should keep long-term strategy in mind, particularly when considering whether to launch a fiscal stimulus program.
ECB buys Frankfurt market site to build new office
GERMANY - With European Union enlargement in mind, the European Central Bank has agreed to spend about 60 million euros to buy the land housing Frankfurt's wholesale vegetable and fruit market to build a new headquarter.
Pakistan law to check money laundering soon
PAKISTAN - The government has started working on an anti-money laundering law to check the inflow of suspicious transactions in the country's banking system.
A cough and a headache halted Sabirin verdict
INDONESIA - A headache and a cough led a judge to postpone on Wednesday the verdict in the case of Central Bank governor Sjahril Sabirin, who is charged with corruption reports the Jakarta Post.
Pakistan c bank may hold some euro forex reserves
PAKISTAN - Pakistan may allocate part of its foreign exchange reserves in the euro when there is greater stability in the currency, the central bank said Thursday.
Papademos "very good" candidate for ECB vice head
GREECE - German Finance Minister Hans Eichel said Thursday that Greek Central Bank Governor Lucas Papademos was a "very good" candidate to succeed Christian Noyer as vice president of the European Central Bank, reports Dow Jones.
Beige Book shows limited economic improvement
US - The US economy showed scattered "signs of improvement" through January and early February, but was not barrelling out of the gates, according to the latest anecdotal survey released on Wednesday by the Federal Reserve.
Argentina seeks to clear way for IMF deal
ARGENTINA - Argentina's Senate yesterday debated the country's 2002 budget a day ahead of schedule as part of efforts to unlock a big support package from the International Monetary Fund.
Testimony of Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, 7 Mar
TESTIMONY - Testimony of Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, U.S. Senate, 7 March.
Greenspan upbeat on US recovery
US - Alan Greenspan, the chairman of the US central bank, has said that the US economic recovery is well under way.
Bank of England News Release
NEWS RELEASE - Bank of England Maintains Interest Rates at 4.0%, 7 March.
Speech by Shin Nakahara, Bank of Japan, 20 Feb
SPEECH - In the speech titled 'State of Japan's Economy and Policy Measures' Nakahara said the Bank of Japan may have to resort to unconventional policy steps if falling prices and economic deterioration spiral out of control.
Minutes of Japan's Monetary Policy Meeting
MINUTES - Bank of Japan Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes from the 15 and 16 January, released 5 March.
Speech by Hauw Soo Hoon of the MAS, 5 March
SPEECH - The message from Hoon in her keynote address 'New Chapter, Same Mission' was that the writing is on the wall for insurance firms: Unethical behaviour from their sales force will be met by a tougher stance and could translate into penalties.
Speech by Glenn Stevens of the RBA, 6 March
SPEECH - Stevens said in the speech titled 'Economic Performance and Issues in 2002' that "as best as we can judge, the economy is not only continuing to expand, but has reasonable prospects of continuing to do so in the near term".
Why Central Banks Announce their Objectives
RESEARCH - Why Central Banks Announce their Objectives: Monetary Policy with Discretionary Signalling by Stefan Palmqvist of the University of California, Berkeley and Institute for International Economic Studies, Stockholm University.
London gold auction ends but arguments continue
UK - The UK completed its sale on Tuesday of 400 tons of gold - a $3.5 billion stack almost as big as two London taxis.