Central Banks
RBZ splurges on luxury goods for judiciary
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has bought a fleet of Mercedes-Benz cars, plasma-screen TVs and satellite dishes for the country's judges.
Venezuela calms liquidity fears on Chavez takeover
The Central Bank of Venezuela has said that the country's financial system is sufficiently liquid after the nationalisation of one of its biggest banks prompted concern about the banking industry's health.
HKMA Exchange Fund posts HK$35 billion H1 loss
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority's (HKMA) Exchange Fund recorded a loss of HK$35 billion ($4.49 billion) in the first half of the year as its equity portfolio took a substantial hit.
Australia's PM: banks must pass on RBA cuts
Kevin Rudd, Australia's prime minister, has urged the nation's banks to pass on the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) rate cuts to consumers.
Ecuador appoints new central bank chief
Carlos Vallejo Lopez has become president of the Central Bank of Ecuador little more than a week after joining the institution.
South African rates high enough: Mnyande
The South African Reserve Bank's tightening cycle could be at an end after a senior official said that rates were now at an appropriate level to contain inflation.
Russia launches fresh bid to tackle inflation
The Central Bank of Russia said on Friday that it would raise its reserve requirement ratios for the fourth time this year to curb annual inflation, which is estimated at about 15%.
Czech executive director quits
Leos Ptr, the executive director responsible for financial market supervision at the Czech National Bank, resigned Thursday.
BoE's Tucker on assessing price impact of slowdown
A key challenge for the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee will be to assess whether the expected economic slowdown will be sufficient to bring inflation back to target, said Paul Tucker, the Bank's executive director responsible for markets.
Joint Forum: reduce dependence on external CRs
Investors should never exclusively rely on external ratings when evaluating credit risk transfer instruments, says the Joint Forum, a group of senior financial regulators, in a paper on this sector.
Fed's Warsh: we would take covered bonds
Highly rated, high-quality covered bonds would generally fall within the range of collateral acceptable at the Federal Reserve's discount window, said Kevin Warsh, a governor at the Federal Reserve Board.
Asian inflation may spark investor flight
If inflation continue to rise, a deterioration of investor sentiment about emerging-markets economies cannot be ruled out, said the Exchange Fund advisory committee of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority according to minutes of its June meeting.
Eurozone inflation hits fresh record
Annual inflation in the eurozone looks to have hit a record high of 4.1% in July.
UK MPC hawk acting on 70s memories
Tim Besley, the only member of the Bank of England's nine-strong Monetary Policy Committee to back a rate hike this month, voted against the majority on fears that UK inflation could become as volatile as it was in the 1970s.
Philly Fed payments VP wins promotion
Arun Jain, a vice president at the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's retail payments department, will become a senior vice president after nearly 30 years of working within the Fed system.
NZ's Bollard praises inflation targeting
There are no clearly superior alternatives to the flexible inflation targeting approach for maintaining price stability, said Alan Bollard, the governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.
Fed pledges to extend aid measures into 2009
The Federal Reserve moved to soothe financial market tensions on Wednesday with a fresh batch of liquidity measures, including confirmation that it will allow investment banks to borrow from its discount window into next year.
Zimbabwe lops ten zeros off currency
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe announced plans to remove ten zeros from its currency in a fresh bid to fight hyperinflation.
Canada names Toronto director
Mark Caplan, an executive managing director at BMO Financial, a financial services company, will join the Bank of Canada as a senior representative and director of its Toronto office.
RBI moves to counter "intolerable" inflation
The Reserve Bank of India looked to assert its inflation-fighting credentials on Tuesday, raising its policy rate and reserve ratio, and warning of regulatory action if financial institutions continue to lend excessively.
Russia cuts back on Fannie and Freddie paper
The Central Bank of Russia has markedly reduced its holdings of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac paper since the start of the year, a senior official confirmed on Monday.
Inflation and fiscal deficit force Pakistan to act
The State Bank of Pakistan has raised its benchmark rate by a full percentage point to 13% in a bid to combat rampant inflation, and a worsening fiscal deficit.
OECD inflation soars to eight-year high
CPI inflation in the 30 countries that comprise the OECD surged to its highest level since March 2000 in the year to June, data published Tuesday revealed.
Shirakawa: consider cross-border collateral
Central banks should consider expanding their operation in terms of providing credit through cross-border collateral, said Masaaki Shirakawa, the governor of the Bank of Japan.