Monetary Policy
Brazil rates will only fall after energy crisis
BRAZIL - The government will only be able to cut interest rates when energy supplies return to normal, which will probably only be in the second quarter of 2002, said former Central Bank chairman Carlos Geraldo Langoni on 21 August.
US rates cut for seventh time
UNITED STATES - The US Federal Reserve has cut interest rates for the seventh time this year in a continued attempt to revive the US economy.
IMF agrees extra cash for Argentina
ARGENTINA - After 12 tense days of talks, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to increase its funding to crisis-hit Argentina by $8bn.
Bundesbank Report
REPORT - The Deutsche Bundesbank has published its Monthly Report for July 2001.
Federal Reserve Research
RESEARCH - International Finance Discussion Papers, An Empirical Comparison of Bundesbank and ECB Monetary Policy Rules by Jon Faust; John Rogers; and Jonathan H. Wright, August 2001.
IMF News Brief
REPORT - A news release from the International Monetary Fund, 21 August, detailing the recommend addition of US$8 billion to Argentina's stand-by credit.
German wise man says ECB need not follow Fed cut
GERMANY - Horst Siebert, a senior adviser to the German government, said on 21 August the European Central Bank did not need to follow the widely expected U.S. interest rate cut by trimming euro zone rates.
What gets a central banker to the top
Central Banking Journal discovers what it takes to succeed in central banking and reveals some intriguing trends - and exceptions - in the lives of those who made it.
Bank for International Settlements Papers
RESEARCH - Empirical studies of structural changes and inflation August 2001.
Argentina pays workers in bonds
ARGENTINA - As Argentina's talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) drag on - with still no word on whether the country will get a much-needed aid package - the situation at home is getting worse.
Shiokawa - Government, BOJ In Agreement On Policy
JAPAN - Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said 21 August the government and the Bank of Japan were in agreement on policy and the central bank was taking into account the administration's views on policy.
Japan gov't panel starts debate on BOJ policy
JAPAN - The Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy has started talks on the direction of monetary policy, set by the Bank of Japan, as a way of stemming deflation, and will likely issue a set of proposals in September calling for further credit easing.
What they said about the dollar
ARTICLE - Policymakers' comments about the US currency, whether planned or off-the-cuff, seldom go unnoticed. Todays, 21 August, London edition of the Financial Times reprises some quotes about the dollar.
Monetary Policy in the Euro Area
CENTRALBANKNET'S SPECIAL REPORT - A review by Robert Pringle, Editor, Central Banking Quarterly of a book by Otmar Issing, Vitor Gaspar, Ignazio Angeloni, Oreste Tristani titled "Monetary policy in the euro area: Strategy and Decision-Making at the…
All Eyes on the Dollar
CENTRALBANKNET'S SPECIAL REPORT - Last week, after recent evidence from the Federal Reserve's Beige Book showed that six consecutive cuts in interest rates had done little to revive the US economy, the dollar finally started to weaken. A report by the…
French/German growth difference not structural
GERMANY - France's economic growth has outpaced that of Germany for several years recently but the stronger growth was due to special, not structural factors and the gap should narrow in the future, the Bundesbank said on 16 August.
An anxious countdown to new euro cash
BELGIUM - BELGIUM - In two weeks, thousands of armoured trucks will fan out across Europe to start supplying banks with crisp bills and shiny coins denominated in euros, the single continental currency that will replace the German mark, the French franc…
Japanese investor waits for Slovak c.bank approval
SLOVAKIA - Japanese company Japan Grade One Co Ltd. that wants to buy Devin banka through a 3-billion SKK capital injection has submitted all necessary documents to the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) that the central bank needs to officially acknowledge…
German banking fed cuts 2001 growth forecast
GERMANY - The German banking federation (BVB) said on 20 August it had cut its forecast for German growth for 2001 to 1.0 - 1.5 percent from an earlier 1.5 percent.
Indonesia expects IMF deal within days
INDONESIA - A deal to resuscitate Indonesia's loans from the International Monetary Fund, frozen since last year, could be finalised as early as 23 August, according to the Indonesian government.
Bank of Japan targets deflation
JAPAN - Japan's central bank is ready to consider further steps to bolster the country's troubled economy, with an inflation target now a possibility, according to top finance officials.
UAE c bank to launch real time settlement system
UAE - The UAE Central Bank will launch the Real Time Gross Settlement System in the UAE on August 25, 2001.
Back to Bretton Woods
UK - The anti-globalisation protesters have a point, argues Felix Rohatyn a former US ambassador to France, in the London edition of the Financial Times, 20 August. It is time to reform the IMF and World Bank, he says.
IMF and World Bank plan to meet protestors
US - The International Monetary Fund and World Bank have agreed to a public debate with leading anti-globalisation activists during the organisations' annual meetings to be held in Washington next month.