Central Banks
Washington restructures loan to save battered AIG
The Treasury is to take a $40 billion stake in American International Group (AIG), once the biggest insurance company in the world, as part of a restructuring of the firm's $122.8 billion Federal Reserve loan.
DSK calls on G20 to bolster IMF coffers
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has urged G20 leaders to discuss ways to boost the Fund's resources at this weekend's summit.
Integration and openness vital: Italy's Draghi
Confronting the challenges posed by the current crisis requires greater integration and market openness, said Mario Draghi, the governor of the Bank of Italy.
Eurozone banks clamp down on gloomy outlook
Eurozone banks are applying ever more-stringent conditions on the region's borrowers on fears of a worsening of economic activity.
SNB and Poland arrange currency swap
The Swiss National Bank and the National Bank of Poland on Friday agreed a currency swap facility to compensate for a lack of Swiss franc liquidity.
Zimbabwe returns charity donations
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe on Friday repaid $7.3m to a charity after it was found to have confiscated donations pledged to fight killer diseases.
RBNZ to operate TAF to avert liquidity crunch
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand on Friday said it will follow the Federal Reserve's lead in establishing a Term Auction Facility (TAF) operation to enhance liquidity.
Korea cuts for second time in a fortnight
Bank of Korea chopped a quarter-point off its key rate on Friday on signs of a further weakening in domestic economic activity.
Real and financial sector linked - Fed's Warsh
The US economy will recover sooner than expected if banks are willing to find new ways of lending, said Kevin Warsh, a governor at the Federal Reserve.
Focus of monetary policy research often misplaced
The focus on determinacy in recent monetary policy research is misplaced, Bennett McCallum, an economics professor at Carnegie Mellon University, argues.
Bank shocks with steepest cut for 24 years
The Bank of England on Thursday lopped one-and-a-half basis points off its benchmark rate for the first time since August 1984, confounding expectations of a far less severe move.
Czechs surprise with 75 basis-point cut
The Czech National Bank slashed its key rate by 75 basis points to 2.75% on Thursday on signs inflation risked falling below target next year.
ECB, SNB cut by 50 basis points
The European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday lopped a quarter point off its key rate and indicated further cuts were likely. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) also cut the upper and lower bounds by the same margin.
BoJ minutes: growth sluggish
Japan's economic growth has been sluggish, reflecting earlier rises in energy and materials prices and weaker exports, say the minutes of the Bank of Japan's Monetary Policy Council meeting on 6 and 7 October.
Norway's Qvigstad on the benefits of transparency
Central bank transparency improves the quality of both communication and the decision-making process, said Jan Qvigstad, the deputy governor of the Norges Bank.
Chile's deficit under the lens
A new paper by the Central Bank of Chile describes and assesses the main causes of the institution's deficit.
Riksbank board unanimous on cut
The executive board of the Riksbank unanimously backed a lowering of the repo rate by 50 basis points to 3.75%, the minutes of the 22 October meeting reveal.
BoJ head hints at bubble-bursting role for rates
Masaaki Shirakawa, the governor of the Bank of Japan, has indicated that monetary policy should act on asset-price bubbles.
Bank to cut by 100 basis points?
The Bank of England will likely cut rates by a full percentage point on Thursday, some leading City of London economists believe.
Fed acts to enforce benchmark target
The Federal Reserve has moved to correct the disparity between its federal funds target and actual rates by raising the amount of interest paid on excess reserves held at the central bank.
Dollar Libor spreads plummet to pre-Lehman levels
Money-market tensions showed further signs of easing on Wednesday, with the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) for three-month dollar loans plunging 20 basis points to 2.51%.
NY Fed hires Bear Stearns' risk-management head
The chief risk officer at Bear Stearns, the now-defunct investment bank, has joined the New York Federal Reserve to advise on bank supervision.
Policymakers added to volatility: Fed's Lacker
Shifts in expectations regarding the chances of official intervention may have made financial markets more volatile, said Jeffrey Lacker, the president of the Richmond Federal Reserve.
Turkey explains October hold
The Central Bank of Turkey's rate-setting committee in October decided to keep rates on hold as the intensification of the financial turmoil called for a cautious approach, the minutes of the meeting reveal.