Monetary Policy
Bank of Israel cuts April lending rate to 7.2%
ISRAEL - The Bank of Israel said on Mar 26, 2001 it was lowering its key lending rate to 7.2 percent in April 2001 from 7.5 percent in March, fractionally above market expectations of a 0.2 percentage point cut.
How Greenspan measures the e-economy
SPEECH - speaking on March 27 Fed chairman, Alan Greenspan revealed some of the Fed techniques for modelling and measuring the hi-tech sectors of the US economy
Algeria increases number of MPC members
ALGERIA - According to Algerian TV on Mar 24, parliament approved amendments to the law of Algeria's central bank, allowing the president to nominate the governor and deputy governors.
Euro drop in 2000 was normal dip - Fed's Poole
EUROPE - The euro's weakness against the dollar last year was a "perfectly normal" dip of a sort which all currencies suffer from time to time, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President William Poole said on Mar 27, 2001.
Swedish inflation risks muted - central bank
SWEDEN - The Sveriges Riksbank on Mar 27, 2001 left its key repo rate unchanged at 4.00 percent and cited subdued inflation pressures in a pointer that interest rates would remain on hold or fall in the next few months.
RBNZ's Brash to help Indonesia on central bank law
NEW ZEALAND/INDONESIA - Reserve Bank of New Zealand governor Donald Brash said on Mar 26, 2001 he was going to Indonesia on Apr 2 to help advise on a new central bank law.
ECB cannot stop stocks from falling-Buba's Welteke
EUROPE- The European Central Bank can do nothing to counter plunging stock prices, Bundesbank president Ernst Welteke said in an interview with the German radio station Deutschlandfunk.
US economists quarrel with Fed rate stance-NABE
UNITED STATES - A survey of the Federal Reserve's policies over the past six months showed that a growing number of US economists fear the central bank has not cut interest rate cuts enough.
Zsigmond Jarai optimistic on inflation target
HUNGARY - Dec 2000 year-on-year inflation could be 6-7%, Hungary's central bank governor Zsigmond Jarai said at an event of the Joint Venture Alliance, according to the daily Vilaggazdasag.
New Zealand cbank against introducing MPC
NEW ZEALAND - The Reserve Bank of New Zealand said in report Mar 26, 2001 that it opposes a recent proposal to change the country's monetary policy decision-making model in favor of a committee of experts instead of the existing framework which vests…
RBA board members debate economic prospects
AUSTRALIA/SPEECH - The newest board member of Australia's central bank, Donald McGauchie, doubts whether there will be a quick return to economic growth, in sharp contrast to the views of the central bank's deputy governor Stephen Grenville.
ECB seminar on monetary analysis published-Mar 16
CENTRAL BANK SEMINAR - On Nov 20-21 2000 the European Central Bank organised a seminar for staff from central banks entitled "Monetary analysis: Tools and applications". The aim of the seminar was to obtain an overview of the various approaches used to…
ECB rate cut should come as no surprise
A series of weak data releases, corresponding stock market declines across Europe and the United States as well as a cut in interest rates by the Federal Open Market Committee has fuelled speculation over the European Central Bank's forthcoming interest…
Prodi calls for more economic power for commission
Romano Prodi, president of the European Commission, repeated his calls for more economic power for the European Commission to act as a counter-weight to the European Central Bank.
Is inflation targeting feasible in Poland?-article
ARTICLE - "Is inflation targeting feasible in Poland?" is a new article in the journal The Economics of Transition, Volume 9: Issue 1, co-written by Peter Christoffersen at McGill University, and Torsten Slk and Robert Wescott at the International…
Q&A: New procedures for BoJ money mkt operations
ARTICLE - The Bank of Japan has published a short question and answer article about its new procedures for money market operations which started on Mar 19, 2001. It says that although the procedures are intended to produce the same effects as the "Zero…
Comparing price competitiveness of SE Asia exports
CENTRAL BANK RESEARCH - Zelal Kotan from the Central Bank of Turkey and Serdar Sayan from Bilkent University have written a paper titled "A comparison of the price competitiveness of Turkish and South East Asian exports in the European Union market in…
Hayami-BoJ to increase JGB outright buys if needed
Bank of Japan Governor Masaru Hayami reiterated Mar 22, 2001 that the central bank will increase its outright purchases of government bonds only when needed.
ECB says central banks should keep oversight role
CENTRAL BANK RESEARCH - The European Central Bank on Mar 22, 2001 said that euro zone central banks should maintain a key role in banking supervision, arguing that their close contacts with commercial banks were crucial for crisis prevention.
US House Panel OKs Fed to pay banks interest
Small businesses and banks won the right to earn interest on their deposits under two bills passed on Mar 21, 2001 by the US House Financial Services subcommittee.
Venezuela Chamber asks court to fix cbank rates
A Venezuelan business chamber has filed an injunction in the supreme court demanding that it nullify a May 1999 agreement allowing banks to set interest rates on a case-by-case basis, local daily El Nacional reported on Mar 22, 2001.
Brazil hikes rates to permit future cuts
The Brazilian central bank has pushed up interest rates to 15.75% protraying this as a defensive more, designed to allow future rate cuts
Swiss franc falls following SNB loosening
Following the SNB's rate cut yesterday the swiss franc has dropped on forex markets.
Predictable Uncertainty in Econ Forecasting-US Fed
RESEARCH PAPER - Neil R. Ericsson has written an paper titled "Predictable Uncertainty in Economic Forecasting" for the US Federal Reserve's series of International Finance Discussion Papers. This paper provides an introduction to predictable forecast…