Monetary Policy
Brazil may widen inflation target's 2 point band
BRAZIL - The finance ministry and the central bank may decide to widen the existing two-percentage points leeway above the inflation target set by the central bank, financial daily Valor Economico reported.
IMF - Polish central bank has room for more easing
US - The Polish central bank has room to ease monetary policy further, after its half percentage point rate cut on Wednesday, the IMF said, with some IMF directors urging a more ambitious rate cut strategy.
ECB Working Paper No. 155
RESEARCH - ECB Working Paper 'Youth unemployment in the OECD: demographic shifts, labour market institutions, and macroeconomic shocks' by Juan F. Jimeno and Diego Rodriguez-Palenzuela, June 2002. It gauges the relevance of the relative size of…
The slowdown of HK dollar broad money growth
RESEARCH - The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has published research on 'The Slowdown of Hong Kong Dollar Broad Money Growth' by Kitty Lai and Joanna, Yen Ling Shi. It examines the factors leading to the slowdown of broad money growth from about 5% in…
A small macroeconomic model of Hong Kong
RESEARCH - The Hong Kong monetary Authority has published 'A Small Macroeconomic Model of Hong Kong' by Jiming Ha, Cynthia Leung and Chang Shu,June 2002.
Bank of Japan monetary policy decision
PRESS RELEASE - At the Monetary Policy Meeting held today, the Bank of Japan decided, by unanimous vote, to leave the guideline for money market operations for the intermeeting period unchanged.
Ahady plans new currency for Afghanistan
AFGHANISTAN - The new head of the Afghan central bank, Anwar Ahady, has announced his plans to increase the nominal value of the afghani by a thousand with a view to promoting financial stability and attracting foreign investment.
RB of New Zealand criticised by finance minister
NEW ZEALAND - The Reserve Bank of New Zealand's management of monetary policy came under attack from the country's finance minister Michael Cullen today when he alleged that it was failing to interpret the bank's written policy agreement with the…
BOJ intervenes again to defend tumbling dollar
JAPAN - The Bank of Japan intervened three times overnight to bolster the dollar, spending an estimated $5 billion. This intervention, its sixth daily dollar-buying move since late May and the second this week, was in reaction to the dollar's decline…
Ignatyev wants stronger ruble
RUSSIA - Sergei Ignatyev, chairman of the Central Bank of Russia, on Tuesday reaffirmed his desire for a stronger ruble, saying that the bank is adopting a policy that implies a "gradual inflation decline and a certain appreciation of the ruble to…
China & S Korea sign $2bn currency swap deal
CHINA - The central banks of China and the Republic of Korea Monday signed a $2 billion currency swap deal which both sides hailed as a move to enhance bilateral co-operation and regional financial stability.
Aldo Pignanelli named new Argentine cb president
ARGENTINA - Argentina's President Eduardo Duhalde has appointed central bank vice-president Aldo Pignanelli as chairman of the bank after Mario Blejer resigned on Friday, the government said in a statement. Pignanelli has been vice-president since March…
Eurosystem currency reserves up by 1.3bn eur
GERMANY - The ECB said eurosystem net foreign currency reserves rose 1.3bn eur to 257.6bn in the week ending June 21. The rise was due to an increase of 3.7bn eur in receivables from the IMF, whereas other holdings in foreign currency decreased by 2.5bn…
BOJ intervenes to shore up dollar
JAPAN - The Bank of Japan stepped into the foreign exchange market Monday to shore up the dollar, which at one point rose by more than 1 yen to 122.80. The dollar later returned to the 121 yen level, as the invervention was seen as relatively modest. The…
Speech by David Dodge of Bank of Canada, 11 Jun
SPEECH - In a speech titled 'Trust, Transparency, and Financial Markets' Dodge told an audience in Nova Scotia that the Canadian economy's strong performance thus far in 2002 has exceeded the Bank's own forecasts.
Speech by Robert Parry, San Francisco Fed, 17 Jun
SPEECH - Parry said in a speech titled 'After the Recession: A Monetary Policymaker Looks Ahead' that "we're now in the midst of a modest expansion," after a shallow recession which probably ended in December or January.
When will MPC act?
LETTER - Letter published in the London Financial Times on 21 June from Stephen Walkley.
A group too big for intense monetary policy debate
LETTER - Letter published in the London Financial Times on 21 June from Michael Davenport.
Political pointers
LETTER - Letter published in the London Financial Times on 24 June from Maurice Fitzpatrick.
Is it too early to call an end to deflation?
ARTICLE - Prices have stopped falling and the balance of Bank of Japan banknotes circulating in the market is on a sharp rise. So is it too early to worry about the possibility of inflation asks the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper on Monday.
Geneva meet to debate Islamic mortgages
UK - A Bank of England working party, which includes representatives of commercial banks and the Treasury, is investigating the wider introduction of Shari'ah compliant house mortgages in the UK, according to the UK's Observer newspaper.
US economy - Explaining outlook is Fed's challenge
FEATURE - Federal Reserve officials meet Tuesday and Wednesday to accomplish two tasks: to set the course of interest rates and outline a view on the U.S. economy.
South Korean c bank considering currency exchange
SOUTH KOREA - The South Korean central bank said Friday that it is preparing for the matter of converting South and North Korean won ready for eventual Korean unification.
Does a floating currency buy flexibility?
RESEARCH - ECB WORKING PAPER by Marcel Fratzscher, June 2002"The Euro bloc, the Dollar bloc and the Yen bloc: how much monetary policy independence can exchange rate flexibility buy in an interdependent world?"(ECB Working Paper No. 154), (pdf 416 kB).