Monetary Policy
Eurozone inflation falls but M3 grows
GERMANY - A marked drop in euro zone inflation in May strengthened beliefs that the ECB will hold fire on interest rates, although its key money gauge M3 moved further away from its benchmark of 4.5%, growing to 7.5% from 7.3% in March.
Moody's downgrades Japan by two more notches
JAPAN - Ratings agency Moody's Investors Service has downgraded government bonds issued by Japan - the world's second biggest economy - by two notches to the same status as those from Latvia and Poland.
IMF approves Zambian funds
ZAMBIA - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved $317m (£216.4m) financing for Zambia's 2002 economic plan to target poverty reduction.
Chicago Fed national index negative in April
USA - The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said on Thursday its National Activity Index was mired in negative territory for the 22nd consecutive month in April at a level of -0.22.
Fed's McTeer-US rebound like 'jobless recovery'
CANADA - Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert McTeer said on Thursday that the US economy's rebound from recession resembled a jobless recovery.
Australian interest rates 'to soar'
AUSTRALIA - Interest rates may have to rise by two percentage points in Australia to cut the risk of overheating, the country's central bank chief has warned.
Argentina scraps key economic law
ARGENTINA - Argentine senators have ditched a controversial law that has been putting off international lenders. The IMF has made abolition of Argentina's so-called economic subversion law a condition for lending to the cash-strapped nation to restart.
Speech by M Moskow, President, Chicago Fed, 16 May
SPEECH - In a speech titled 'Economic Outlook' Moskow said "While certain sectors of the economy are still experiencing hard times, overall activity has recovered from the recession we suffered last year and we appear to be on our way to a moderate…
Speech by Masaru Hayami, Bank of Japan, 30 May
SPEECH - In a speech titled 'The Economy: Recent Developments and Challenges' Hayami said that although the yen weakened last year, since spring "the yen has been rising and the dollar has been falling. People are scaling back their expectations for the…
Sveriges Riksbank Press Release
PRESS RELEASE - Backstrom: Earlier assessments still largely apply, 29 May.
Research from the St Louis Fed
REPORT - The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, May/June 2002.
Papademos to make ECB debut at Eurogroup as No.2
GERMANY - Incoming European Central Bank Vice President Lucas Papademos will make his debut as the bank's number two at the Eurogroup meeting of euro zone finance ministers in Luxembourg on Monday.
Coo!
FEATURE - Sushil Wadhwani's tenure as a member of the Bank of England's interest rate setting committee comes to an end on Friday. The Financial Times, in its Observer column on Thursday, couldn't help making one last joke about Wadhwani's dovish…
Ian exits
FEATURE - The FT's Observer writes on Thursday, farewell Ian Plenderleith - sphinx-like to the end. At a Tuesday night retirement bash for the Bank of England director, his boss Eddie George preserved Plenderleith's legendary reputation as a backroom…
ECB Working Paper Series
RESEARCH - The Spanish block of the ESCB-multi-country model, by Alpo Willman and Angel Estrada, May 2002.
Speech by Sirkka Hamalainen of the ECB, 30 May
SPEECH - In a speech titled 'The role of the euro in global capital markets' Hamalainen described the euro as a global currency and said that the aim and goal of the Eurosystem should be to strengthen the integration and economic performance of the EU…
Outgoing MPC member raises bank independence fears
UK - The independence of the Bank of England could be at risk if it continues to undershoot its target for inflation, a member of the Bank's monetary policy committee has warned.
Brazil central bank sees '02 inflation over 5 pct
BRAZIL - Brazil's central bank projected inflation this year of "slightly above" 5 percent, according to minutes of its rate-setting meeting last week released Wednesday.
Murray Sherwin favourite in poll for RBNZ governor
NEW ZEALAND - Murray Sherwin, a former Reserve Bank of New Zealand deputy governor, is the best person to take the bank's top job according to a poll of New Zealand based economists conducted by Dow Jones Newswires.
Wadhwani - Inflation forecasts overestimate threat
UK - Reaching for an analogy to explain what the Bank of England's monetary policy committee has got wrong, Sushil Wadhwani turns to the wisdom of one of the cricketing legends: Geoff Boycott in an interview with the Financial Times.
Speech by M Moskow, President, Chicago Fed, 10 May
SPEECH - In remarks to the Conference on Bank Structure and Competition Moskow said that at issue is whether banks behave in a manner that tends to accentuate business cycles, and whether bank regulation further augments this volatility.
Speech by W. McDonough, New York Fed Bank, 14 May
SPEECH - McDonough says in his speech "Improvements in accounting and disclosure practices will help safeguard the proper use of financial derivatives. Transparency not only will provide a healthy incentive for firms to manage their risks prudently but…
Speech by Robert Parry, San Francisco Fed, 14 May
SPEECH - In a speech titled 'After the Recession: A Monetary Policymaker Looks Ahead' Parry predicted higher interest rates at some point, saying the Fed may be "deliberative" as inflation poses no "imminent problem." Excess capacity and rising…
HM Treasury Announcement
ANNOUNCEMENT - Non-Executive appointments to the Court of the Bank of England, 29 May.