Reserves
Central bankers meet to discuss growing deficits
On 20-21 June, Central Banking Publications hosted its first conference on Sovereign Asset and Debt Management, which brought together speakers and delegates from central banks, ministries of finance, debt offices and financial institutions.
Russia likely to float rouble within three years
The Russian central bank and the finance ministry have signalled that the government will allow the rouble to float freely within the next three years, the Interfax news agency reported.
Venezuela presents central bank reform proposals
Venezuela's government has submitted a legislative proposal that would allow President Hugo Chavez to tap reserves held by the central bank.
Korea postpones currency swap decision
The Bank of Korea (BOK) postponed a decision Wednesday 15 June on a proposal to lend some of its foreign exchange reserves to domestic banks through currency swaps, the central bank said.
Russia 'won't react to rumours' over euro
A senior Russian central bank official said on Monday 6 June that reports Italy and Germany could drop the euro were "just rumours," and said Russia has no intention of changing its reserves structure.
SARB has no reserve target - Plenderleith
The South African Reserve Bank plans to keep gradually building its foreign exchange reserves, Deputy Governor Ian Plenderleith said in an interview.
Euroclear appoints John Trundle MD
Euroclear SA/NV announced on Thursday 19 May that John Trundle will become Managing Director and head of Risk Management for the Euroclear group, effective 6 June.
IBM transforms Bank of Korea's forex system
A major software giant has said it has completed the transformation of the Bank of Korea's foreign exchange asset management system for foreign exchange reserves.
RBI plans risk management panel
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it is looking at setting up a separate committee to study and strengthen the operational risk management of banks, as part of the overall implementation of the Basel-II norms.
Surprising transparency on Swiss gold sales
This article looks at the recent speech by Philipp Hildebrand on the Swiss National Bank's gold sales. The speech represented "amazing after-the-event transparency" it says.
Central banks become net dollar sellers
The world's central banks have become net sellers of US dollar-denominated assets for the first time in more than two years.
Venezuela's Chavez considers vote on reserves use
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez said on Saturday 14 May he may decide to call a referendum on whether the country should be able to use part of its international exchange reserves for projects to help the poor.
EMEAP announces ABF2 moves to implementation phase
The eleven central banks and monetary authorities from East Asia and the Pacific which make up the EMEAP Group announced on Thursday 12 May that the Asian Bond Fund 2 (ABF2) has moved into its implementation phase.
IMF paper on emerging bond markets
The IMF Working Paper "The impact of macroeconomic announcements on emerging market bonds" examines how emerging bond markets react to macroeconomic announcements.
Greenspan on risk transfer and financial stability
In a speech on 'Risk transfer and financial stability' given on 5 May, Alan Greenspan of the Federal Reserve said the huge mortgage holdings of home finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose risks to the liquidity of the derivatives market where…
Tokyo urges China to act 'responsibly' on reserves
Japanese Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said that Japan will manage its foreign-exchange reserves to help create stability rather than maximize profit and called on China and South Korea to also act "responsibly."
Asia set to boost currency attack defences
Japan, China and South Korea are set to join forces to bolster Asia's defences against currency speculators despite diplomatic tensions that had threatened to derail economic cooperation.
IMF Working Paper on international reserves
The IMF Working Paper "A fiscal price tag for international reserves" examines the (quasi-)fiscal impact of the (opportunity) cost of international reserves. The paper suggests that while most countries made money on their reserves during 1990-2001, most…
PBOC sees three risks to China's banking system
Chinese banks continues to face three major kinds of risk, namely credit risk, performance risk and trans-business risk, according to Xiang Junbo, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China.
ECB report confirms reserve diversification plan
The European Central Bank confirmed in its annual report on Tuesday 26 April that it is working on significant changes to its foreign reserve management strategy that would allow diversification into different financial instruments.
UK's Brown says IMF gold sales plan 'on the table'
British finance minister Gordon Brown said on Monday 25 April that his proposal to sell the International Monetary Fund's gold to finance debt relief for poor countries was still on the British agenda in spite of opposition from the US.
Malaysia's reserves rise in first half of April
Bank Negara Malaysia said on Friday 22 April that its international reserves rose to RM276.7 billion (US$72.8 billion) as at 15 April 2005.
Dilemma facing Southeast Asia's central banks
This article published on Thursday 21 April looks at the situation of Asian central banks. A cocktail of rising inflation, slower economic growth and "an aggressive" Federal Reserve is forcing local central banks to raise interest rates when their…
MOF's Asakawa says Japan won't diversify reserves
According to Japanese Ministry of Finance official Masatsugu Asakawa, Japan doesn't plan to change the percentage of US dollars in its $838 billion official reserve assets, the world's largest.