Monetary Policy
Fed expected to lift US interest rates
The Federal Reserve was expected to raise interest rates on Tuesday 10 August for the second time this year, despite weak US employment growth statistics.
Bulwarks against chaos
The sixtieth anniversary of the Bretton Woods agreement has prompted comment in the media and provided a peg for a number of conferences. At least two of these were held last month in beautiful surroundings in Italy. The Editor of Central Banking journal…
Watanagase on the Thai financial sector
In a speech on 'Thai financial sector and the challenges ahead' given on 8 July, Tarisa Watanagase of the Bank of Thailand said that so far, the Thai financial system has shown signs of resilience with promising prospects for the future. But we will…
Roi on banking in Mauritius
In a speech on 'Banking in Mauritius' given on 8 July, R Basant Roi of the Bank of Mauritius said banking, as we are all aware, involves risk. No banker, anywhere in the world, is absolutely certain that money lent out will be fully repaid in time. The…
RBA Statement on Monetary Policy, August 2004
The Reserve Bank of Australia published its August 2004 Statement on Monetary Policy on 9 August. Economic developments over recent months point to continued good growth of the Australian economy. The global upswing has maintained its momentum since the…
CNB's Frait on convergence criteria
A paper 'Convergence Criteria - How Tight a Constraint under Inflation Targeting?' was presented on 23 June by Jan Frait of the Czech National Bank. The paper focuses on how tight a constraint are the convergence criteria for the conduct of inflation…
Germany's Eichel : no more budget cuts yet
German Finance Minister Hans Eichel said on Sunday 8 August that the economic recovery was not yet firmly established enough for him to impose more budget cuts, and that he would make added savings only when growth was more sustained.
Reddy says RBI caught unawares on inflation
The Reserve Bank of India governor YV Reddy admitted that the July inflation rate, which touched a three-year high of 7.51% in end-July, was higher than what the monetary policy in May '04 had visualised.
BOT says new rules must apply to all
A senior official at the Bank of Thailand (BOT) said on Monday the central bank would scrutinise the bad-loan situation at other banks and would not change the criteria of the probes.
Belgium may scrap small euro coins
Reports on Thursday said the Belgian government had agreed in principle with banks, business and consumer groups to scrap one and two euro coins.
Romania cuts interest rates 75 points
The Romanian central bank cut key interest rates by 75 basis points Friday to 19.25 percent, the central bank said.
Danmarks Nationalbank re-appointment
Following maternity leave, Pernille Blach Hansen, MP, has been re-elected to the Committee of Directors of Danmarks Nationalbank, and Pia Gjellerup, MP, who replaced Ms. Hansen on the Committee of Directors has withdrawn, Danmarks Nationalbank said in a…
RBNZ appoints Spencer assistant governor
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand announced on 4 August the appointment of Grant Spencer as Assistant Governor/Head of Economics.
PBOC appoints assistants to the governor
The People's Bank of China has appointed three assistants to the governor in what is seen as a final stroke to the planned management overhaul after Zhou Xiaochuan took the helm at the central bank at the end of 2002, the 21st Century Business Herald…
Bangladesh Bank hires modernisation consultant
Bangladesh Bank will hire a consultant on a two-year contract under a central bank strengthening project, funded mostly by World Bank credit, Matamat reported quoting official sources.
Bomb threat forces People's Bank to evacuate HQ
The headquarters of the People's Bank of China was evacuated after a man threatened to blow up the building, a senior official of the central bank said this week, according to AFP.
Brazil's Meirelles denies fresh allegations
Brazil's central bank chief Henrique Meirelles on Thursday 5 August denied he evaded taxes after new allegations he failed to declare all his assets to Brazilian tax authorities. The leader of the main opposition party called on Mr Meirelles to resign…
How did the Fed respond to the stock market?
The appropriate role for equity prices in monetary policy deliberations has been hotly debated for some time. In this Discussion Paper from the Boston Fed the authors show that after controlling for the information that actually enters the FOMC's…
Annual meetings of IMF and World Bank, 2-3 October
The Executive Boards of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group have decided that the Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors, along with related meetings and events, will take place in Washington, D.C. on October 2-3, 2004.
CNB's Racocha on payments systems
In the speech 'Payments systems and financial stability' given on 8 July Pavel Racocha of the Czech National Bank said the main and most real challenge connected with the payment system in the Czech Republic is EU accession. Legal changes have already…
RBNZ's Bollard defends rate rises
The governor of New Zealand's central bank, Alan Bollard, has defended lifting interest rates to the highest level in the developed world, citing pervasive capacity constraints and inflation pressures.
Deutsche Bundesbank Monthly Report, July 2004
The Deutsche Bundesbank published the English version of its July 2004 monthly report on 5 August. June saw a slowdown in the rise in consumer prices, with the general price level falling slightly in seasonally adjusted terms.
South African Reserve Bank - Annual Report 2004
The South African Reserve Bank published its Annual Report for the year ended 2004 on 2 August. The SARB achieved success on many fronts during the past year. By far the most important achievement was the downward movement in the rate of inflation to…
Bank of England lifts rates to 4.75%, ECB holds
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted to raise the Bank's repo rate by 0.25 percentage points on Thursday 5 August. The Bank said that its decision reflected continued strong growth which is likely to lead to rising inflationary pressures…