Reserves
Japanese officials say intervention not over yet
Japanese officials continued their battle with foreign exchange markets on Thursday 18 March as the yen surged against the dollar, warning they will act against sudden moves, but only when necessary.
RBNZ's FX intervention background paper
Background information on the proposal of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to extend the purpose for which it holds foreign exchange reserves. A capital injection into the RBNZ will be required to enable the Bank to absorb unrealised, temporary losses…
France may opt to use gold to fund research
The French government is looking at the possibility of using its gold reserves to finance research, with a ministerial source quoted as saying that while the gold is managed by the central bank it belongs to France.
Germany considers offloading 600 tons of gold
Ernst Welteke told a parliamentary committee on Wednesday 10 March that the Bundesbank wanted to sell 600 tons of gold over the next five years from its stock of 3,400 tons. But politicians said the funds should be used to cut debt, something the…
RBNZ propose ability to intervene in forex market
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand on Thursday 11 March recommended to the Minister of Finance that, as one of its monetary policy implementation tools, it should have the capacity to intervene in the foreign exchange market to influence the level of the…
Argentina avoids new IMF debt default
Argentina's government made a $3.15 billion payment to the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday 9 March, averting a new debt default with the Fund.
Report says Colombia should increase reserves
According to Colombia's banking association, the central bank should boost its international reserves by about $500 million to offset possible sudden capital outflows that would follow a US interest rate rise.
Hong Kong's foreign currency reserve figures
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced on Monday 8 March that the official foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong amounted to US$123.5 billion at the end of February 2004.
Euro central banks reach new gold sales agreement
European central banks said on Monday 8 March that they had reached a new agreement that increases the limits on their annual gold sales to 500 tons annually over the next five years.
Japan ponders reserves switch
Japanese Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki's suggestion that Japan might consider diversifying its massive foreign exchange reserves provoked speculation about possible dollar dumping on a huge scale by Asian governments and also set the gold market…
Fed's Olson : A regulator's view of banking
In a speech on 'A Regulator's View of Emerging Issues in Community Banking' given on 27 February, Mark Olson of the Federal Reserve said that America's small, community banks must watch asset and liability management and take care they don't get caught…
SARB removes apartheid's forex overhang
South African Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni said on Monday 1 March that the SARB last month closed out its oversold forward book to eliminate a structural overhang in the economy caused by apartheid.
Caruana on risk management
In a speech to the 5th Annual Risk Management Convention given on 24 February, Jaime Caruana, Chairman of the Basel Committee, said impressive advances have been achieved in measuring and managing exposures to market risk, credit risk and, more recently,…
America's dangerous deficit
We distribute this article from the International Herald Tribune, with permission, as it is among the first that we have seen in the mainstream media publicly speculating about the possibility of the US effectively restricting access of central banks to…
Qualitative aspects of effective risk management
In the a speech on 'Qualitative Aspects of Effective Risk Management' given on 25 February, Susan Schmidt Bies of the Federal Reserve said the recent accounting scandal at Italian business giant Parmalat shows corporate governance issues are global in…
BIS offers to manage Philippines reserves- reports
The Philippines central bank is studying a BIS proposal to manage the country's gross international reserves. A source at the BSP said the BIS expressed interest in acting as its "external fund manager".
BI aims for skills increase in staff
Supervisory staff at Bank Indonesia will be required to receive competence certificates under new measures to improve the banking industry.
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.