Monetary Policy
RBI groups call for amendment to RBI Act
The Reserve Bank of India's working group have suggested amendments to the RBI Act (1934), according to The Financial Express. The group suggested flotation of interest-bearing deposits as an option, whereby the central bank pays interest on deposits…
Buba warns of tensions between ECB, politicians
Deputy chief of the Bundesbank, Juergen Stark, warned on Tuesday 2 December that the stability and growth pact dispute could lead to increased tensions between politicians and the European Central Bank, according to a report by EU Business. "Further…
RBNZ appoints 'fresh' face to advisory role
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has appointed Terry McFadgen as a part-time monetary policy advisor. The RBNZ employs two people as external advisors (the other advisor is Malcolm Bailey) to bring an outside perspective to decision making processes. The…
RBA gets new Assistant Governor, Business Services
The Reserve Bank of Australia has appointed a new assistant governor for business services. The RBA said Dr Bob Rankin would begin the position in January, when current assistant governor Geoff Board moved to head the bank's European Representative…
Banknotes and the glass of water test
Le Duc Thuy, the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, had a novel way of proving the durability of Vietnam's new 500,000 dong Australian-made polymer-based banknotes by dipping one specimen into a glass of water to demonstrate, Reuters reports. "People…
Tom Hoenig, from baseball to banking
During a recent visit to a Kansas City school, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Tom Hoenig reminisced about his early experiences of banking as a 12-year-old baseball fan. He needed $100 to buy new equipment and his father talked a local…
BoJ's Fukui on achieving sustainable growth
In a speech on 'Achieving Sustainable Growth' given on 28 November, Toshihiko Fukui of the Bank of Japan said the BoJ's framework for quantitative easing coupled with measures to strengthen the transmission mechanism of monetary policy will improve the…
Atlanta's Guynn: Beyond Short-Term Interests
In the speech 'Beyond Short-Term Interests' given on 21 November, Jack Guynn of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta said the U.S. economy is already growing in a way that appears broad-based and sustainable. Atlanta has a long list of "right stuff"…
Hans Eichel Interview - 'Spirit' of Pact observed
In an interview published by Welt am Sonntag, German Finance Minister Hans Eichel said Germany has "observed the letter and spirit of the Stability Pact". He commented that further measures to reign in the budget deficit would have been wrong and…
Bank of Canada keeps rate at 2 3/4 per cent
The Bank of Canada held its main interest rate steady at a meeting on Tuesday 2 December, despite market worries over the impact of a soaring Canadian dollar and recent weaker-than-forecast economic growth.
Argentina c bank to issue new 3-year notes
The central bank of Argentina said on Monday 1 December that it will auction new NOBAC notes with an 8.0 percent coupon, Reuters reports. The bank will offer 25 million pesos ($8.4 million) worth of NOBAC and a further 25 million pesos of a similar…
Euro periphery may suffer from pact weakening
The fallout from last week's decisions on the stability and growth pact could impact on the bond markets of countries with less fiscally prudent reputations than Germany and France, according to a report by Reuters. Rating agency Standard & Poor's said…
Taiwan to relax ban on Chinese currency import
Taiwan's Ministry of Finance has said that travellers will not have to declare sums of 6,000 yuan or less which are brought into the country under new laws, according to a report by Associated Press. Travellers are currently banned from bringing China's…
Mboweni says price stability is SARB's aim
South African Reserve Bank governor Tito said on Monday 1 December that price stability remains the central bank's core objective, according to Finance 24. "Monetary policy will continue to focus on the objective of price stability" and the outlook for…
New Malaysian PM backs currency peg
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the recently elected Prime Minister of Malaysia, has said he favours the pegging of the country's currency to the US dollar. "I find that our exchange rate mechanism is very beneficial to our economy," Abdullah told a news…
OECD: Japan needs to fix its price problem
The OECD has urged continued reforms in Japan to allow a sustained recovery, according to a report by Pacific Business News. OECD economist Yutaka Imai called on the Japanese government to stimulate economic activity to stop prices from slipping.
Trichet the internationalist
Jean-Claude Trichet, the new president of the ECB, has a reputation as a polished performer. He lived up to it at his first press conference in Frankfurt: first praising his predecessor, apologising when consistency necessitated repetition and peppering…
Slimming down the Bank of Spain
SPECIAL FEATURE - Like all the central banks of the Eurosystem, the Bank of Spain is grappling with the implications of its status as one central bank within the larger federal. CentralBankNet reports from Madrid on how the restructuring is being carried…
ECB's Trichet on financial stability
In a speech on 'Financial stability' given on 26 November, Jean-Claude Trichet of the ECB said the issues generated by the fast evolution of the financial system are very complex and demanding for public authorities. He added that some elements of the…
Tumpel-Gugerell on ECB's monetary policy issues
In a speech on 'ECB's Monetary Policy Issues in the Run-up to Enlargement' given on 14 November, Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell of the ECB said the ECB is interested in assisting acceding countries on their way to monetary integration the best way it can. The…
Sweden's Nyberg on financial stability issues
In a speech on 'Current financial stability issues' given on 25 November, Lars Nyberg of the Sveriges Riksbank said the Nordic central banks have a joint working group for discussing cross-border crises, and we have drawn up a memorandum of understanding…
Bahrain to host cb governors for IFSB Council meet
Bahrain will host the 3rd meeting of the Council of the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) next week, according to AME info. The governor of the Bahrain Monetary Agency said "We are delighted to host such an important gathering of central bank…
BoJ to inject $9.1 billion to help stabilize mkt
The Bank of Japan is prepared to inject $9.1 billion into the financial system in an effort to stabilise markets, according to Associated Press. PM Junichiro Koizumi approved a decision on Saturday 29 November to purchase all of Ashikaga Financial Group…
Buba chief concerned about euro stability, growth
Bundesbank President Ernst Welteke said in an article published at the weekend by Welt am Sonntag that the Stability and Growth Pact has "not yet been buried," but it has been seriously damaged by the decision taken in Brussels. "It is now decisively…