Monetary Policy
Brazil c bank raises key interest rate to 22 pct
After a sharp increase in rates by three percent, which we reported just last month, the Banco Central Do Brasil has again raised interest rates. This time a more modest rise of one point was signalled by the central bank. Inflation is a concern with…
Chicago Fed Letter, December 2002 Special Issue
REPORT - The latest Chicago Fed Letter is titled 'Financial market and regulatory behaviour over the business cycle'. It asks the questions, should regulation and supervision be used to smooth out the business cycle? and how do financial firms respond to…
Dodge on promoting Canada's economic welfare
SPEECH - In the speech 'Promoting Canada's Economic and Financial Welfare' David Dodge of the Bank of Canada said Canada's inflation target, which aims to keep the rate at the mid point of a 1-3 per cent range, has firmly anchored expectations at the 2…
Greenspan speaks at book launch
SPEECH - Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan spoke at the launch of a new book by Allan Meltzer. He described the book, History of the Federal Reserve Volume I as an indispensable input for monetary economists and economic historians alike. Drafts of the book…
Bank of Slovenia - Annual Report 2001
ANNUAL REPORT - The Bank of Slovenia has published its Annual Report for the year ended 2001. The report says the main feature of the past year has been the slowdown in the economy around the globe with domestic demand modest also. Large financial…
BOJ minutes reveal wariness over stock-buying plan
As the Bank of Japan prepares to implement its new stock buying policy minutes to the Bank of Japan meeting 17-18 September show some board members expressed skepticism over the plan. The minutes have not yet been published but were obtained by a news…
JGBs higher as BoJ leaves policy unchanged
The Bank of Japan said Tuesday it would maintain current policy for money market operations. The vote was unanimous. Although the BoJ is under political pressure to ease further it was felt by many that they are waiting to see what impact their recent…
George moves to allay fears on public finances
Edward George agrees with Mervyn King that the UK housing market is set for a dramatic slowdown in price rises. He joins the stability and growth pact debate effectively criticising it by raising concerns about spending cuts and tax increases when the…
Welteke says risks to economic growth are high
Bundesbank chief Ernst Welteke implied the ECB may be close to easing interest rates. Speaking in Stockholm he said that the euro zone economy had risks on the downside and that low growth posed more of a threat than inflation.
Redefine the Bank of Canada
ARTICLE - An extract from former governor of the Bank of Canada John Crow's new book 'Making Money' has Crow on monetary policy. He says it's time for the federal government to clarify responsibility.
How to strengthen naira, by Nigeria's Sanusi
The Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CNB), Dr. Joseph Sanusi, said Monday, that the only way to strengthen the naira at the foreign exchange market was to increase productivity of locally made goods.
Eurozone inflation edges higher
The eurozone inflation rate rose a further point to 2.3 percent it was revealed on Monday. The ECB is not considered to be worried about inflation at the moment with Ernst Welteke recently saying the bank expected inflation would head downwards.
Bank of Japan Press Release
PRESS RELEASE - Bank of Japan, Monetary Policy Meeting held 19 November.
The Inflation Targeting Framework in Norway
RESEARCH - This IMF working paper assesses the institutional and technical design of Norway's inflation targeting framework which was adopted in early 2001, as well as its potential implications for the practical implementation of monetary policy against…
CentralBankNet Monday Special Feature
SPECIAL FEATURE - Mervyn King caused a stir last week saying "I have no wish to go into the pulpit" and lecture people about house prices. But with UK property values at dangerously high levels and the catastrophic consequences for the UK economy if, in…
Deutsche Bundesbank Monthly Report, October 2002
REPORT - Germany's central bank, on 14 November published its Monthly Report for October 2002. The Bundesbank said in its monthly report that gross domestic product grew by just 0.25 percent between July and September, compared to 0.3 percent expansion…
Britain held back by isolation from euro
LETTER - Letter published in the Financial Times, 18 November by Simon Buckby, Campaign Director, Britain in Europe. He says Britain's label of the 'reluctant European' has cost it dear and membership of the euro will be the first step in repairing the…
Domingo Solans on the euro as a driving force
SPEECH - Eugenio Domingo Solans of the European Central Bank said five years is a very short period of time in the normal life of a central bank. He compared the ECB to the Banco de San Carlos, the forerunner of the Bank of Spain created in 1782…
Swedes to hold euro referendum
SWEDEN - Sweden gets the go ahead for a euro referendum from the government but as we reported last week deputy governor of the Swedish Central Bank, Eva Srejber, thinks 2006 is a realistic timetable for Sweden to enter EMU. Swedish trade unionists…
Bundesbank chief gives backing to EU growth pact
GERMANY - Bundesbank president Ernst Welteke, who sits on the ECB's interest rate setting council, throws his support behind the stability and growth pact which was labelled "stupid" by Romano Prodi recently. "The increasingly open attacks on the pact…
Bank of Japan to begin share buying plan next week
JAPAN - Japan's shock move to purchase equities in a bid to solve the banks bad loans crisis will begin next week. Last week Japan's FSA brought further concern suggesting that the problem could have been underestimated by as much as Y13,000bn.
German coins make their mark in the eurozone
GERMANY - Though recent surveys suggest many Germans want their old marks back, it looks like German minted euro coins are poised to flood across borders. Because a third of all euro coins are produced with German national images on the reverse some…
Who Will Be the Next Fed Chairman?
US - Speculation grows as to Alan Greenspans possible successor. A recently compiled list of candidates suggests a Harvard University professor, Martin Feldstein, is a strong contender.
Gov't raising Philippine inflation target for 2003
PHILIPPINES - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has convinced the Development Budget Coordination Committee to adjust upward the inflation target for 2003 to a range of 4.5 to 5.5 percent from the original target of 4-5 percent.