Monetary Policy
Former Argentine central bank chief Maccarone dies
Roque Maccarone, who was president of the central bank of Argentina from May 2001 to January 2002, has died at the age of 70, Associated Press reports.
Swiss National Bank reports fall in income
Swiss National Bank Financial Statements and Annual Report 2002. The SNB reported a fall in aggregate income during 2002; however this was partially offset from receipts of Sfr 1.53 billion from gold transactions and the revaluation of gold holdings.
Indonesian c bank director given three years' jail
Heru Supraptomo, a director with the Indonesian central bank, was jailed for three years on Thursday 3 April after he was found guilty of corruptly failing to properly monitor insolvent banks during the regional financial crisis, according to a report…
Macfarlane - Do Australians borrow too much?
In a speech on 'Do Australian Households Borrow Too Much?' Ian Macfarlane of the Reserve Bank of Australia said that although household debt/income has increased since the 1980s, the risks have not increased significantly. This is due to the less…
ECB's Duisenberg receives award in Italy
Decoration for Dr. Willem F. Duisenberg, President of the European Central Bank,2 April 2003. Duisenberg was presented with the "Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy".
Duisenberg speech before the President of Italy
In a speech Wim Duisenberg of the European Central Bank spoke of Rome as a symbolic City for the ECB to hold a Governing Council meeting. The ECB has decided to meet twice a year outside its Frankfurt base, partly to emphasise the federal character of…
ECB meeting on monetary policy decisions
At Thursday 3 April's meeting, which was held in Rome, the Governing Council of the ECB decided that the minimum bid rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain…
Riksbank appoints new dep head of mon pol dept
Kerstin Hallsten has been appointed the new Deputy Head of the Monetary Policy Department of the Sveriges Riksbank, 3 April.
IIF calls for economic policy co-ordination
An article in the Financial Times called on the ECB to cut interest rates "by at least 1 percentage point" at its meeting on Thursday 3 April. The ECB should take a decisive lead, it says, to put the global economy back on track. [The ECB declined to…
France backs Duisenberg to extend ECB term
The meeting of finance ministers and central bankers in Athens on Friday is likely to support moves to extend Wim Duisenberg's tenure as president of the European Central Bank, according to a report in the Financial Times. He may stay for up to six…
Meeting of AGCC cb governors in Qatar
The meeting of AGCC central bank governors in Qatar on Thursday 3 April was due to discuss issues concerning the common AGCC currency and the supervision of the banking system, according to a report in the Times of Oman.
Vittorio Corbo new Chile cb board member
The president of Chile, Ricardo Lagos, has named Vittorio Corbo as a new board member of the central bank of Chile, Reuters reports. Corbo will take Carlos Massad's place on the Bank's board. Massad resigned as president of the central bank earlier this…
Taiwan's cb fights SARS
The China Post in Taiwan has provided more details of the unusual cure Taiwan's central bank chief has proposed for the deadly disease Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
Changes at the top in Kenyan central bank
Kenya's central bank has announced major changes to its senior staff job roles. Shifts include supervision, financial markets and the banking department, according to the daily Nation, Kenya.
Finnish central bank governor on medical leave
The governor of Finland's central bank Matti Vanhala will be on leave from the Bank until June. Mr Vanhala will be undergoing an operation.
RBA holds fire on interest rates
The Reserve Bank of Australia held interest rates steady at 4.75 per cent on Tuesday 1 April in a widely expected move, reported The Australian Financial Review.
Riksbank's Heikensten in favour of ECB vote deal
Swedish central bank chief Lars Heikensten has come out in favour of the agreement to reform the European Central Bank's Governing Council, but he also wants more transparency from the institutions.
E.African c b bosses support monetary union study
A meeting of east African central bankers has called for a greater role for central banks in the conduct of monetary policy and supervision of the financial sector. The EAC also agreed to intensify cooperation and information sharing between the central…
Serb PM urges central bank to adapt exchange rate
Under a special law the National Bank of Serbia will soon be officially recognised, Serbian premier Zoran Zivkovic said on Tuesday 21 March, according to a report by the tanjug new agency. He also called for the central bank to listen to the market and…
OECD chief economist calls for ECB rate cut
A newspaper has quoted the OECD's top economist as saying "there is a clear-cut case" for a cut in the ECB's interest rate by a "significant" amount, according to Reuters.
Brazil real gains on central bank reform hopes
Increasing optimism that Brazil's central bank will gain greater independence pushed the real up against the dollar in trading, says the Financial Times. The legislation to be presented Wednesday is the first of a series of radical reforms designed to…
Richmond Fed's Broaddus on the economic outlook
In a speech on 'The Economic Outlook in a Turbulent Period' J. Alfred Broaddus of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond said economic recovery in the US will be strong enough to ride out the Iraq war. The economy should be "solid enough" to withstand…
Taiwan's c bank chief touts herbs to fight SARS
With the deadly virus Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) spreading rapidly around the world, Reuters reported on Wednesday 2 April that Perng Fai-nan, governor of the central bank of China (Taiwan) has suggested a mixture of vinegar, crushed garlic…
Ex-BoJ Kanno expects action from Fukui
In an interview with Dow Jones, ex-Bank of Japan official Masaaki Kanno said rather than increase the BOJ's account balance target to shake-off deflation the BOJ's new governor Toshihiko Fukui will focus more on ways to make sure that money injected by…