Central Banks
ASEAN agree on Chiang Mai
The 13 countries participating in the Chiang Mai Initiative to create bilateral currency swaps have reached an agreement on the main components of the scheme.
Sell to central bank: Caracas tells gold producers
The Venezuelan government said on Monday that local gold manufacturers must triple the amount that they offer for sale to the country's central bank.
ECB's Papademos: injections staved off collapse
The expansion of liquidity to the eurozone's banks since August 2007 has ensured that a systemic crisis was averted, said Lucas Papademos, the vice president of the European Central Bank.
Fed's Lacker sees end of year recovery
Jeffrey Lacker, the president of the Richmond Federal Reserve, expects the recession to end later this year.
Renminbi's exchange-rate impacts China's trade
China's trade balance is sensitive to fluctuations in the renminbi's real effective exchange rate, new research from the Bank for International Settlements posits.
France bails on Sepa Direct Debit
The French National Single Euro Payments Area (Sepa) Committee, set up and chaired by the Banque de France and the French Banking Federation, has opted to delay the implementation of Sepa direct debit by a year to November 2010.
Brazil slows pace of easing
The Central Bank of Brazil cut its key interest rate for the third time this year to a record low of 10.25% on Wednesday.
Central banks partly to blame: UK MPs
Though banks were ultimately culpable, central bank must acknowledge a share of the blame for the financial crisis, an influential group of British lawmakers has said.
ECB's Bini Smaghi: credit easing won't work for us
Unconventional policy measures that would best suit the euro area are likely to differ in terms of scope and depth from those in the United States or other advanced economies, said Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, a member of the European Central Bank's (ECB)…
Roubini praises Geithner
Nouriel Roubini, the economist most often identified as having predicted the crash, has complimented Tim Geithner for his performance as the United States treasury secretary and as head of the New York Federal Reserve.
Canada's mortgage market imperfectly competitive
Canada's residential mortgage market is imperfectly competitive, a paper published by the country's central bank posits.
Basel II won't ward off systemic threat
Risk-based capital regulation is inadequate for protecting the financial system as a whole, research published by the Dallas Federal Reserve reveals.
NZ to keep rate at record low until end of 2010
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand followed the Bank of Canada's lead on Thursday and said it was likely to keep its benchmark rate at or below its current record low of 2.5% until the second half of 2010.
BIS stats highlight extent of capital flight
Data posted from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) on Wednesday provided fresh evidence for the doom-mongers on central and eastern Europe, and went some way to explaining recent movements in exchange rates.
SA expected to continue easing after 100bps
The South African Reserve Bank acted in line with market expectations on Thursday by cutting 100 basis points off its main rate - a move which it is now forecast to repeat in May after the governor signalled the economy was in recession.
Trichet says shush on possible new tools
Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), has said that the Governing Council's omerta on interest rates a week before meetings must be extended to include possible additional tools that may be announced next Thursday.
Research puts a price on systemic threat
Research from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) estimates that the cost of insuring against steep losses at major American banks had increased to up to $250 billion as of July 2008.
Turkey on target to meet price goals
The Central Bank of Turkey believes it is on course to meet its inflation targets for the next three years.
Rate pledge already benefiting us: Canada's Carney
Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of Canada, has said that the central bank's unprecedented promise to hold rates at record lows until at least June 2010 was already having a positive effect on credit conditions in Canada.
Fed stress tests may reveal need for more capital
Shares in Citi and Bank of America, two of the United States's biggest banks, were hit on Tuesday after reports emerged that the Federal Reserve would require them to hold more capital as a result of the central bank's stress tests.
More transparency on Maiden Lane
The New York Federal Reserve on Wednesday disclosed further details of the assets held as collateral for the central bank's loans to Bear Stearns, a now-defunct investment bank, and American International Group (AIG), a beleaguered insurer.
Banks right to lend cautiously: BoE's Barker
The British government's strategy of encouraging British banks to lend received a setback on Wednesday after Kate Barker, a member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), said that she could understand their reluctance to lend.
Trichet emphasises lack of confidence
Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank, has claimed the role of policymakers in this stage of the crisis is to restore confidence.
A new model for inflation targeting
This International Monetary Fund paper presents a new model of inflation targeting, taking greater account of the importance of changes in the credibility of policymakers.