Central Banks
Japan's finance minister resigns, forgets BoJ rate
Shoichi Nakagawa, Japan's finance minister, has stepped down after opposition lawmakers accused him of being drunk at a press conference at which he wrongly stated that the Bank of Japan had set a benchmark target range of between 0% and 0.2%.
Banking will never be the same: BoE's Besley
The credit crisis has irrevocably and fundamentally altered the banking system and its regulation, Tim Besley, a member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, has said.
UK inflation stays in letter-writing territory
British CPI inflation edged down in January but less so than analysts' expected. However, RPI inflation slid sharply to a near 49-year low as mortgage costs plunged on the back of the Bank of England's rate cuts.
Saudi deputy replaces governor of 25 years
Muhammad Al-Jasser, the vice-governor at the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, will take charge of the central bank after 13 years in his current role.
Leaning against the wind talk hot air: BoE's Bean
Charlie Bean, the deputy governor responsible for the Bank of England's monetary policy, has rejected claims that countering asset-price bubbles with rate hikes would have tempered the worst of the financial excess that triggered the credit crisis.
Fed rate board to get more time to talk
The Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) policy meetings for the rest of 2009 will take place over two days to allow more time to discuss the ills of the US economy.
Pakistan calls for second IMF loan
Islamabad is to ask the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a second multi-billion dollar loan to temper the impact of its counter-terrorism measures on its already-fragile economy. News of Pakistan's request follows the Fund's announcement on Friday…
Look to Stockholm for bailout tips: Cleveland Fed
A Cleveland Federal Reserve study has urged officials to follow Sweden's lead in resolving the financial crisis.
Crisis must prompt risk-management reassessment
A new wave of transformation in the standards of risk management is now a priority, Andrew Haldane, the executive director responsible for financial stability at the Bank of England, has said.
Aussie FX market strong despite stutter
The Australian foreign-exchange market has performed relatively well despite a high degree of turbulence, said Chris Ryan, the head of the international department at the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Chile slashes rates to 4.75%
The Central Bank of Chile confounded market expectations by reducing the cost of borrowing by a full two-and-half- percentage points on Thursday.
Fisher gets markets job
Paul Fisher has been appointed as the new executive director for markets of the Bank of England. Fisher will start in his role on 1 March and will also sit on the monetary policy committee (MPC).
Egypt sees first cut for nearly three years
The Central Bank of Egypt cut interest rates for the first time since April 2006 on Thursday.
Payments systems and the crisis
Ron Berndsen, who heads the payments oversight department at the Dutch central bank, assesses the impact of the crisis on the financial "plumbing".
Riksbank explains sharp adjustment
With this note, the Swedish central bank explains why its recent interest rate cuts have taken rates lower than the level contained in its December forecast.
Sri Lanka lowers rates as inflation falls
Sri Lanka's policymaking Monetary Board cut rates at its regular monthly meeting this week as figures showed inflation had moved into a rapid decline.
Korea cuts again
The Bank of Korea has slashed interest rates for the sixth time in four months, bringing the cost of borrowing to a record low of 2% and suggesting that further cuts could be in store.
"Leaning against the wind" to rise - Stevens
Glenn Stevens, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, expects the view that monetary policy should "lean against the wind" when asset prices are rising will gain in followers in the aftermath of the current market turmoil.
Mexico's Ortiz: crisis demanded FX strategy shift
The Bank of Mexico had to directly intervene in foreign-exchange markets for the first time for more than a decade earlier this month because of the severity of the impact of the crisis on currency trading, Guillermo Ortiz, the governor of the Bank of…
Zim's Gono turns on rand anchor
The governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Gideon Gono, has been quoted as welcoming the idea of pegging the country currency to South Africa's rand.
Reactions to Tarp 2
Initial reaction on the new financial industry bailout plans announced on Tuesday, suggest that investors and observers are underwhelmed by the lack of details available at this stage and fear that the measures will continue to fall short of the…
NY Fed's Dudley: the Tips are good
The benefits of the treasury inflation protected securities (Tips) programme exceed its costs, said William Dudley, the president of the Federal Reserve of New York.
China's financial liberalisation success
Liberalisation of China's financial system reduced its vulnerability, posits a new paper from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.
Asian crisis, culture sparked imbalances: Zhou
The Asian financial crisis and a number of cultural factors triggered the build up in global imbalances seen as the underlying cause of the current crisis, Zhou Xiaochuan, the governor of the People's Bank of China, has said.