Monetary Policy
Iraqi banks want to rejoin banking system
Faleh Salman, acting Iraqi central bank governor, said at the weekend that the Security Council's decision in May to lift sanctions meant "here is no impediment now" for the resumption of relationships across the world for Iraq's banks, according to a…
Brazil c bank to upgrade credit system in 90 days
The central bank of Brazil's upgraded credit information system will gather information about all loans above 5,000 reais (US$1,760), compared to a minimum of 20,000 reais in the current system, according to Business News America. It will also bring a…
Polish gov't wants c bank reserves to finance debt
Poland's new minister of finance Andrzej Raczko plans to use central bank foreign currency reserves to finance Polish foreign debt, the Polish News Bulletin reports. Members of the Monetary Policy Council oppose any decrease of reserves made against…
Germany's Schroder calls on ECB to reduce rates
German chancellor Gerhard Schroder has questioned the ECB as to "whether they have done enough to stimulate growth", according to a report in the Financial Times. He told Pedro Solbes, EU monetary affairs commissioner, on Tuesday that Germany would…
BoJ Monetary Policy minutes, 19 and 20 May
Minutes of the Bank of Japan's Monetary Policy Meeting on 19 and 20 May 2003, released 30 June. With respect to domestic demand, corporate profits were recovering, and if exports and production resumed their upward trend, business fixed investment was…
6 May Minutes of Federal Open Market Committee
The Federal Reserve on 26 June released the minutes of its FOMC meeting of 6 May. The minutes showed all the members indicated that they could support a proposal to maintain an unchanged policy stance. But they acknowledged that a case could be made for…
The Bank of England gets a respected new chief
Mervyn King began his 5-year term as governor of the Bank of England on 1 July. An article in BusinessWeek describes him as the brains behind the Bank's solid track record since 1997. He is viewed as both a formidable scholar and independent thinker.
Bank of Japan survey shows business sentiment up
The Bank of Japan's "tankan" survey released on Tuesday 1 July suggested that managers in Japan were becoming more optimistic, Associated Press reports, with large companies planning to boost capital expenditure by 4.9 percent this fiscal year.
Bollard not concerned over NZ dollar strength
Reserve Bank of New Zealand governor Alan Bollard said on Tuesday 1 July that he was not concerned about the strength of the NZD "but we keep looking at it", according to One Business.
Armenia of interest for Russia's banking sector
Armenian central bank chairman Tigran Sarkisyan said in an interview that as bilateral economic contacts gather pace with Russia, Russian commercial banks will step up co-operation with Armenian partners to increase the servicing of financial flows,…
Bulgarian PM says c bank unaffected over delay
Bulgarian prime minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg said at the weekend that the delay in naming a new governor for the National Bank of Bulgaria will not have a negative effect on the institution, according to Novinite. He also said he did not know of a third…
Putin, central bank chairman discuss economy
Chairman of the central bank of Russia Sergey Ignatyev met with President Vladimir Putin on Monday 30 June to discuss the financial and economic situation in the country, RTR Russia TV reported. Ignatyev said the macroeconomic situation remains stable,…
India joins IMF's pool of lenders
A statement from the Reserve Bank of India, reported by Associated Press, said that the IMF has selected India for the first time to become a member of its Financial Transaction Plan, which helps bail out countries facing currency crises or at risk of…
Jean-Claude Trichet to chair G10 Governors
Jean-Claude Trichet was elected Chairman by the Governors of the Group of Ten (G10) central banks on 29 June. He succeeds Sir Edward George, who is retiring as Governor of the Bank of England.
BIS Board invites new member central banks to join
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Board has invited six central banks to BIS membership and appointed Hans Tietmeyer as Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the BIS, 30 June.
Paper: monetary policy rules vis a vis uncertainty
The author of this Bank of Canada Working paper, Gabriel Srour, explores the role that Taylor-type rules can play in monetary policy, given the degree of uncertainty in the economy. It is shown that if the degree of persistence of inflation in the…
Bank of Spain's Jaime Caruana on global recovery
In a speech to the International Securities Market Association Annual General Meeting Jaime Caruana of the Bank of Spain said conditions for a global economic recovery in the second half of the year seem to be in place despite economic data that have yet…
Bank of Spain - Annual Report 2002
The Bank of Spain has published Chapter 1. Overview of its Annual Report for the year ended 2002.
Accession country central banks observe ECB meet
The ECB's General Council meeting of 26 June was attended for the first time by central bank presidents of the ten EU accession countries. The ECB decided last September to invite presidents and experts of the accession countries' central banks to attend…
Farewell Eddie
Sir Edward George retired from the Bank of England on Monday. An article in the Financial Times looks back at his time as governor which, it says, can be looked on a successful decade which will not see him move rapidly from Who's Who to Who's He?
The case for a single currency for the planet
A recent conference in Italy debated the idea of a common global currency and a world central bank, according to the Wall Street Journal. If the euro can replace the franc, mark and lira, why can't a new world currency merge the dollar, euro and yen? A…
Deflation fears as c bankers eye global pick-up
The annual meeting of the Bank for International Settlements kicked off on Sunday 29 June with central bankers predicting a "gradual sluggish pick-up across the world moving into next year" as outgoing Bank of England Governor Sir Edward George said,…
Egypt - UK central bank agreement planned
Officials from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) have met for talks at the Bank of England's Centre for Central Banking Studies (CCBS) to launch a cooperation agreement between the CBE's Egyptian Banking Institute and the CCBS, according to the MENA news…
Germany plans major cuts in income tax
Germany plans wide ranging income tax cuts to stimulate Europe's largest economy, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said at the weekend. Both the EC and ECB have warned against financing the tax cuts through more state debt.