Monetary Policy
Norges Bank keeps interest rates unchanged
NORWAY - Interest rates were left unchanged at Norges Bank's Executive Board meeting on 16 May. Norges Bank's key rate, the sight deposit rate, remains at 7.00 per cent. The overnight lending rate also remains unchanged.
Reserve Bank of Fiji - Annual Report 2000
REPORT - The Reserve Bank of Fiji has published its 2000 annual report. Savenaca Narube, Governor and Chairman of the Board, talks about the chaotic year Fiji has faced in the foreward to the annual report.
Closing speech of 2001 ADB annual meeting
SPEECH - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) concluded its 34th annual meeting of the board of governors on 11 May. The meeting, which was held in Hawaii, finished with a speech from the President of ADB Tadao Chino.
New data poses US rate cut dilemma
US - For the fourth time this year the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, has to decide by just how much it will cut interest rates.
Address to the Asian Development Bank Meeting
SPEECH - Address by Paul H. O'Neill, Chairman of the Board of Governors and Secretary of the Treasury of the United States to the Asian Development Bank Annual Meeting, Hawaii 2001.
Sri Lanka agrees on tight monetary policy with IMF
SRI LANKA - Sri Lanka toed the line of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 15 May and agreed that a tight monetary policy would be best to support the newly floated rupee and help achieve economic stability.
New M3 data allowed ECB cut says Issing
According to Otmar Issing, the European Central Bank's chief economist, the ECB's recent rate cut was facilitated by new money supply data, which showed M3 growing slower than the bank's reference rate.
Klaus makes visit to CNB
CZECH REPUBLIC - A meeting of Chamber of Deputies chairman Vaclav Klaus with the Czech National Bank (CNB) Board on 14 May at CNB's invitation can be understood as an expression of the central bank's readiness to shake hands and make up.
The effect of pessimism and doubt on asset returns
RESEARCH - Andrew Abel analyses the effects of pessimism and doubt on asset returns in a working paper published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
Australian rates likely to remain unchanged
AUSTRALIA - Australia's central bank governor said on 11 May that interest rates will be cut again only if there is a dramatic threat to the U.S. and global economies.
IMF urges Gulf states to open up
BAHRAIN - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged the Persian Gulf Arab states to end subsidies and open up to foreign investment.
Bank Indonesia revises up 2001 inflation forecast
INDONESIA - Indonesia's central bank said on 14 May it expected to revise up its 2001 inflation forecast due in part to the weak rupiah, but added the rate should remain below 10 percent.
Fed expected to make another US rate cut
US - The Federal Reserve is expected to make another anti-recession move on 15 May with an interest rate cut - to try to boost the ailing U.S. economy.
IMF will lose a third senior official
WASHINGTON - Jack Boorman is planning to leave the IMF, probably later this year. Fund officials were quick to stress that Mr Boorman had been at the IMF for 25 years and that his leaving was not a shock.
Central Banking Journal May 2001 edition now out
Central Banking Vol. XI, No. 4 was published 8 May 2001. This edition includes exclusive interviews with Maurice O'Connell, Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, Syahril Sabirin, Governor of Bank Indonesia and Hans Tietmeyer, former Bundesbank…
Financial Policy and Central Banking in Japan
BOOK - A new book by T. Cargill, M. Hutchison and T. Ito analyses how the bank-dominated financial system - a key element of the oft-heralded "Japanese economic model" - broke down in the 1990s and spawned sweeping reforms.
IMF Concludes Article IV with South Africa
SOUTH AFRICA - On 19 March 2001, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund concluded the Article IV consultation with South Africa.
Rules tightened by Philippine central bank
MANILA - The Philippine central bank said on 11 May that it has expanded the duties and responsibilities of the board of directors of banks to strengthen the banking system.
Yugoslavia re-admitted to World Bank after 8 years
YUGOSLAVIA - Yugoslavia rejoined the World Bank on 8 May, eight years after being expelled for its involvement in Balkan wars, noting that the move paves the way for future loans to help the impoverished country's economic recovery.
Bank of England lowers base rate
UK - The Bank of England announced at 12pm on May 10 that the UK's main interest rate measure, the repo rate, would be reduced by 0.25% to 5.25%.
ECB cuts interest rates by 0.5%
Summary - The European Central Bank (ECB) has made a surprise cut in its key interest rate reducing it by a quarter point to 4.5%.
Inflation still main concern of ECB
GERMANY - European Central Bank council member Vitor Constancio said on 10 May that inflation still remained the bank's main concern.
Banks refusing funds from BOJ
JAPAN - Japanese monetary policy encountered a significant hitch yesterday, 9 May, after it failed to persuade banks to accept any more funds. The money was virtually free as interest rates in Japan are close to zero.
Sir Eddie George at the University of Zurich
SPEECH - The Governor of the Bank of England, Sir Eddie George, gave a speech at the Swiss Institute of International Studies, University of Zurich on May 7.