Monetary Policy
Pakistan cuts GDP forecast to below four percent
Pakistan's central bank on Feb 26, 2001 slashed its economic growth target for the second time in four months, because of slower growth in agriculture, high oil prices and the falling rupee.
Polish rate cuts hinge on meeting '03 inflation
Polish policy-makers will not cut interest rates until confident there is no danger to the medium-term inflation target, central bank chief Leszek Balcerowicz said in a newspaper interview published on Feb 26, 2001.
Indonesia, IMF agree on c.bank independence-Ramli
Indonesia's chief economics minister Rizal Ramli said on Feb 26, 2001 he had reached agreement with the International Monetary Fund on the need to maintain the central bank's independence but stopped short of saying a long running deadlock had been…
Romania must step up inflation fight-c. bank chief
Romania has to step up its battle against inflation but needs to do so gradually to avoid shocks from a sudden reduction, Mugur Isarescu, the governor of the central bank (BNR), was quoted as saying on Feb 26, 2001.
Swedish inflation risks receding-Riksbank
Sweden's central bank, the Riksbank, said on Feb 26, 2001 that inflation risks appeared to have diminished since it raised interest rates in December 2000, although the outcome of the current wage round could affect the picture.
Bank of Israel cuts lending rate by 0.2 pct point
The Bank of Israel said on Feb 26, 2001 it was lowering its key lending rate by 0.2 percentage points to 7.5 percent, its eighth straight monthly reduction and the 14th in the past 16 months.
Lessons from Japan's Experience in Monetary Policy
The chief representative of the Bank of Japan in Frankfurt says in a speech that the 1990s has been a period of learning for the central bank, not as many people say "a lost decade". The bank now has a greater focus on the role of asset prices and the…
Breaking the Cycle of World Poverty-Horst Koehler
Horst Kohler, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund gave a speech at the conference on "Child Poverty, Education, and Health" in London, February 26, 2001. He says he has learnt a lot from his discussions with sub-Saharan African leaders…
'Inflation, Financial Development'-Peter Rousseau
Peter L. Rousseau from Vanderbilt University and Paul Wachtel from the Stern School of Business, New York University have published an article called "Inflation, Financial Development and Growth". The last decade saw an explosion in research interest on…
Time Inconsistency Problem in Monetary Policy?
A paper by Stefania Albanesi, V.V. Chari and Lawrence J. Christiano titled "How Severe is the Time Inconsistency Problem in Monetary Policy?"
Launch of review of NZ mon policy-Lars Svensson
Lars Svensson, a professor of economics at the Institute for International Economic Studies,Stockholm University, will publish on Wednesday, February 28, at 4 pm (NZ time, GMT+13 hrs) his independent review of the operation of monetary policy in New…
Turk PM Ecevit under fire for lira float turmoil
Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit faces mounting fury at home after sending the lira currency into freefall to try to curb a financial crisis and resisting pressure to reshuffle his beleaguered government.
UK euro entry debate finely balanced-BoE's George
Britain's central bank governor on Feb 23, 2001 declared himself a euro pragmatist, and said the arguments for and against the country joining the euro zone were finely balanced.
Buba 2000 profit at around DM 16bn - magazine
Germany's Bundesbank is expected to post a profit of around 16 billion marks ($7.42 billion) for 2000, Der Spiegel magazine said on Feb 23, 2001.
'Why adopt transparency? Publishing forecasts'-ECB
A new ECB working paper by Petra Geraats has been published called "Why adopt transparency? The publication of central bank forecasts". It provides an explanation for the puzzling fact why several central banks have recently abandoned the usual secrecy…
Buba Remsperger - German growth seen slower in '01
Economic growth in Germany in 2001 will be slower on average than in 2000, Deutsche Bundesbank Chief Economist Hermann Remsperger said Feb 23, 2001 in an interview with German news agency VWD.
BOJ Yamaguchi signals possible mon policy ease
Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Yutaka Yamaguchi says he is now more cautious about prospects for the Japanese economy than he was in 2000, signaling the central bank has not ruled out a possible relaxation of its monetary policy, Kyodo News reported.
Why is domestic lending in Hong Kong sluggish-HKMA
Why does domestic lending continue to be so sluggish in Hong Kong when the economy is making such a vigorous recovery, asks Joseph Yam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, in his weekly "Viewpoint" column published on the HKMA website.
Turk cbank floats lira, to adopt inflation target
The central bank of Turkey said Feb 22, 2001 that it's shifting from a monetary framework centered on the exchange rate to one centered on formal inflation targeting, which will give the bank more flexibility and independence.
S'pore GDP up 9.9% in 2000, no shift in MAS bias
Singapore's economy grew a robust 9.9 percent in 2000, slightly below an official forecast of 10.1 percent, with the outlook broadly positive for 2001 despite slowing growth, the government said on Feb 22, 2001.
German expert wants ECB rotation after enlargement
Membership of the European Central Bank's policymaking body should be rotated once the currency bloc is expanded, a member of the German government's council of independent advisers said in a newspaper on Feb 22, 2001.
Ex-IMF Camdessus - BOJ has room to ease mon policy
The Bank of Japan still has a little more room to ease monetary policy in order to help sustain Japan's waning economic recovery, Michel Camdessus, former managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said Feb 22, 2001.
UK budget should not influence BoE-MPC's Nickell
The fact that the next policy meeting of Britain's central bank comes the day after the annual budget should not prevent its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) from altering interest rates, an MPC member has said.
Czech cbank surprises, cutting rates by 25bp to 5%
More than a year after it last cut interest rates, the Czech National Bank on Feb 22, 2001 said it was lowering its two-week repo rate to 5% from 5.25%, its discount rate to 4% from 5% and the Lombard rate to 6% from 7.5%.