Reserves
Netherlands plans to offload $866m of gold
The Dutch central bank plans to sell 65 tons of gold valued at $866 million when the 15-country gold sales agreement expires in September, spokesperson Tobias Oudejans said on Tuesday. 17 February
Heikensten-Risk management and financial stability
In a speech on 'Risk management and financial stability' given on 17 February, Lars Heikensten of the Sveriges Riksbank said regardless of the fact that there are now outstanding issues to be resolved to improve risk management, his overall conclusion is…
Fed says central banks keep buying US debt
Holdings of US government debt held by foreign central banks hit a new record high, the Federal Reserve said on Thursday 12 February. The Fed said it was partly due to the Bank of Japan's heavy intervention in the markets.
New light on the Fed's history
Allan Meltzer finds the Fed at fault for the Great Depression, but he may not have the complete picture contends Tim Congdon.
Russian for ex intervention hits record $3bn
The central bank of Russia spent a record $3 billion on Tuesday 10 february to hold down the ruble. The intervention represented the biggest foreign-exchange intervention in Russia's history.
Argentina holds 'constructive' IMF talks
Argentina's Economy Minister Roberto Lavagna described talks with IMF chief Horst Koehler on Monday as constructive but said there was no change in its offer to repay its defaulted debt at 25 cents on the dollar.
Schroeder suggests gold reserves used to fund R&D
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was quoted in an interview on Thursday 5 February as suggesting that Bundesbank gold reserves could be used to finance research and development projects.
Forex reserves hit record high in South Korea
South Korea's foreign exchange reserves hit a record high in January, helped by the government's continued dollar buying.
Chavez presses Venezuela's cen bank on funds
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez repeated on Sunday 1 February demands that that the central bank complete its commitments to release reserves to finance the state revival of the nation's flagging farm industry.
Tanigaki says Japan could increase gold holdings
Japan's Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said in response to a parliamentary question that Japan may consider increasing its gold reserves to bring them more into line with levels elsewhere.
Russia sees gold and forex reserves increase
Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves have reached a record-high of 82.7 billion dollars, official figures from the central bank of Russia showed on Thursday 29 January..
Iraq to talk debt with G-7 and IMF
Top finance officials from Iraq and Afghanistan will meet next month with their counterparts from the G7 industrial countries and Russia to report on progress in reconstruction.
Report says Bundesbank wants 600 tonnes gold sale
A report said Germany's Bundesbank has registered its intention to sell a total of 600 tonnes of gold over the next five years.
Venezuela's central bank under pressure
This article looks at the position of the central bank of Venezuela (BCV) following calls from President Hugo Chavez to hand over $1 billion from its reserves. Chavez has called it 'absurd' and 'crazy' for the reserves just to sit in the bank, and…
Venezuela's central bank defies Chavez
Venezuela's central bank is examining ways in which it can deflect controversial demands from president Hugo Chavez to hand over $1bn of its foreign reserves for what could be a public spending spree.
BOJ bought Y1.9100 trn shares from banks to 10 Jan
The Bank of Japan said on Wednesday it had bought a total of 1.9100 trillion yen ($17.98 billion) of shares held by Japanese banks by January 10 under its programme aimed at reducing the banks' exposure to stock market volatility.
BoJ may ease rules on asset-backed securities
Proposed rule changes to the Bank of Japan's asset-backed securities purchase will be on the agenda for discussion when the BoJ Policy Board convenes on Jan 19-20.
Venezuelan president threatens to take over c bank
On Wednesday 7 January Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez threatened to take over the country's independent central bank if it did not agree to his demand to hand over $1 billion in reserves to finance farming projects.
Uganda's central bank suffers unprecedented loss
The central bank of Uganda says it made a loss of Shs 7.7 billion in the year to June 30 2003 as a result of low returns from its investments abroad.
Swiss National Bank given freedom to invest
Under the new Swiss National Bank (SNB) statute, the SNB will be allowed to invest in a far-wider range of assets.
Dollar fall to hit central bank profits
The strength of the euro against the dollar is proving a double-edged sword for Europe's central bankers. The decline in the value of the dollar against the euro is likely to eat into the earnings of the central banks of Germany, Austria and the…
India's foreign exchange reserves top $100 bn
India's foreign exchange reserves broke through the $100 billion mark for the first time, on the back of investment and trade flows and the dollar's weakness against other currencies.
Korean central bank OKs reserves proposal
The Bank of Korea said on Thursday 11 December that it would agree to requests by the government to entrust part of the central bank's foreign exchange reserves to a newly proposed state-managed agency, according to a report by joonjang Ilbo. The bank…
CNB governor Tuma says Czech FX reserves too high
Czech National Bank governor Zdenek Tuma said on Wednesday 10 December that Czech foreign currency reserves are too high and were not expected to fall significantly in the near future, reports Interfax. According to Tuma, the central bank cannot reduce…