Monetary Policy
Bank of France attacks ECB strategy
According to this article from The Daily Telegraph, published Friday 9 March, the ECB has received an unprecedented attack on the "reliability" of its strategy by the Bank of France and a barrage of attacks by French leaders.
RBNZ Monetary Policy Statement, March 2007
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand published its March 2007 Monetary Policy Statement on 8 March. The report said recent indicators show clear evidence of a pick-up in economic activity in late 2006 and early 2007.
Trichet says ECB may not be done yet on rates
European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet said Thursday 8 March he is not saying that ECB interest rates are necessarily at a peak after increasing interest rates.
Bank of Canada holds interest rates steady
The Bank of Canada held its benchmark overnight lending rate steady at 4.25 per cent Tuesday 6 March saying the risks to its forecast remain balanced, despite the wild swings in global financial markets recently.
Fed's Bernanke on globalization & monetary policy
In the speech 'Globalization and monetary policy' given on 2 March Ben Bernanke of the Federal Reserve said global factors may on balance have boosted U.S. inflation, but globalization has not affected the ability of the Federal Reserve to influence U.S…
BoE's Lomax on the MPC coming of age
In the speech 'The MPC comes of age' given on 28 February Rachel Lomax of the Bank of England highlighted that the central bank will fulfil its duty of meeting the inflation target rate over the medium term.
SNB's Jordan hints at further rate hikes ahead
Thomas S Jordan, alternate member of the Swiss National Bank's governing board, suggested Tuesday 27 February in a speech that the SNB will again raise interest rates at its meeting this spring.
BoJ says forward-looking policy, data can coexist
Minutes from the Bank of Japan's policy board meeting of Jan 17-18 released Monday 26 February showed members agreed that the central bank does not change interest rates based on a schedule set in advance and that it can maintain its forward-looking…
Riksbank's views on evaluation of monetary policy
Both the Executive Board and the General Council are presenting their views on the report "An Evaluation of Swedish Monetary Policy between 1995 and 2005". In a press release on Monday 26 February the Riksbank said the Executive Board agrees with several…
Riksbank's Ingves on monetary policy
In the speech 'Introduction on monetary policy' given on 22 February Stefan Ingves of the Sveriges Riksbank said emphasised that the Riksbank's decision to publish our own forecast for the interest rate should be regarded as a further step towards…
Japan's Ota warns BoJ about tightening
Japanese economic and fiscal policy minister Hiroko Ota on Friday 23 February warned the Bank of Japan against further credit tightening.
BoJ's Fukui expects gradual rate hikes
Bank of Japan governor Toshihiko Fukui told lawmakers Friday 23 February that he is "open" to options of further rate hikes.
Iceland's Fridriksson on monetary policy
In the speech 'Monetary policy and its implementation' given on 20 February Ingimundur Fridriksson of the Central Bank of Iceland said the central bank has already stated its view that adopting the euro would be imprudent except by joining the EU.
FOMC members upbeat on economic outlook
Federal Reserve officials at their January meeting shrugged off past concerns and said the outlook for growth and inflation was looking positive, according to minutes of the meeting released Wednesday 21 February.
Bank of Japan to keep 'accommodative' policy
Bank of Japan governor Toshihiko Fukui said Wednesday 21 February it will maintain its "accommodative" monetary policy for some time, after voting to raise interest rates.
Minutes show 7-2 split on BoE rate vote
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted by a 7-to-2 margin to keep its benchmark rate unchanged at 5.25 pct at its meeting earlier this month, minutes showed Wednesday 21 February.
SNB's Roth says rates not high enough yet
Swiss National Bank (SNB) chairman Jean-Pierre Roth said in an interview published Wednesday 21 February that Switzerland's current interest rate level is still not high enough to guarantee price stability in the medium-term.
Omi says BoJ should support growth
Japanese finance minister Koji Omi told parliament on Tuesday 20 February that the Bank of Japan's monetary policy should support economic growth, as it prepares to start a two- day meeting to decide interest rates.
Sveriges Riksbank Monetary Policy Report, No. 1 07
Sweden's central bank, the Sveriges Riksbank, published its First Monetary Policy Report for 2007 on 15 February. According to the report, formerly known as the Inflation Report, inflation is currently low, as is the rate of wage increase and cost…
Fed's Poole says no reason to change rates now
St Louis Federal Reserve president William Poole said on Thursday 15 February that there was no reason at the moment for the U.S. central bank to change interest rates.
ECB paper on market responses to policy decisions
The ECB Working Paper "Using intraday data to gauge financial market responses to Fed and ECB monetary policy decisions" examines bond and stock market volatility reactions in the euro area and the US following their respective economies' monetary policy…
Bernanke on the semiannual monetary policy report
In testimony to Congress given on 14 February Ben Bernanke of the Federal Reserve said the Fed was still debating how to improve its communication skills, and insisted that there was yet room for improvement.
Federal Reserve's Monetary Policy Report, Feb 2007
The Federal Reserve published its February 2007 Monetary Policy Report to the Congress on Wednesday 14 February. Ben Bernanke told Congress that the US economy should grow modestly this year and he maintained the Fed's forecast that inflation will…
RBA's Battellino appointed deputy governor
The Australian government appointed Ric Battellino as deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia on Wednesday 14 February for a five-year term.