Central Banks
Sri Lanka's monetary policy review
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka's tight monetary policy has been vindicated as inflation decelerated to 13%, although rises in administrative prices meant there was a risk this could be reversed.
Bank of Israel closes "interest rate gap"
The Bank of Israel has announced an interest rate increase of 25 basis points. The hike, which takes rates to 3.75%, was somewhat unexpected as most observers expected rates to remain unchanged.
Hungary keeps rates on hold - as expected
As expected by analysts the National Bank of Hungary, the country's central bank, kept its policy rate unchanged today at 7.75% after its monthly review of interest rates.
Further rate rise in China
The People's Bank of China has raised its key benchmark bank lending and deposit rates by 27 basis points. It was the third rate hike of the year in the booming economy.
ECB calls for new debit card schemes
The European Central Bank (ECB) would like to see the emergence of new debit card schemes to rival the dominance of Maestro.
Fed's minutes for June meeting
The Federal Open Market committee's predominant policy concern remained the risk that inflation would fail to moderate as expected, the minutes to the July meeting explained.
BoE's Besley: rates should move higher, faster
Raising rates sooner will help bring inflation back to target faster, explained Timothy Besley, an external member of the Bank of England's rate-setting MPC, at a seminar organised by the CEPR in London.
Brazil makes 17th consecutive rate cut
Brazil's central bank made its 17th consecutive cut in the overnight lending rate on July 18, as inflation continued to be kept in check by the strong exchange rate.
Turkey's reserves hit record high
The Turkish central bank announced on Thursday that its foreign currency reserves had reached a new record level of $118bn on July 6.
Rate tightening agreed by Polish cb in June
At its most recent meeting, Poland's central bank agreed that rate tightening in the future was necessary, although the bank's policymakers were split over when a move should occur.
Inflation and growth in EMU - IMF paper
Differences in growth and inflation in the eurozone are small, but persistent, shows this working paper from the IMF.
RBA's Stevens on the Asian crisis
The Asian crisis dramatically changed thinking about the nature of economic and financial crises, the policies for dealing with them, and the role of the various bodies charged with fostering economic and financial stability, explains Glenn Stevens, a…
BoE minutes show rate rise split
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted 6 to 3 to raise interest rates this month, according to the minutes of the July meeting published today. Kate Barker and Paul Tucker voted with the governor, Mervyn King, in favour of a rise of…
Japanese policymakers fear US housing problems
Minutes of the June 14-15 meeting of the Bank of Japan's policy board, published today, show that some board members have concerns about the persistence of housing problems in the United States, which may point to difficulties in making future rate rises.
Thai rates cut with one eye on baht
Thailand's central bank cut its benchmark interest rate, the one-day bond repurchase rate, to 3.25% from 3.5% today, the fifth consecutive cut this year. Suchada Kirakul, the assistant governor, told reporters after the rate decision that the cut "will…
Mexico ends dollar sales for three months
Mexico's central bank, Banco de Mexico, announced today that it will not sell dollars in the third quarter of 2007.
BIS report on foreign exchange settlement risk
A new report from the BIS surveys foreign exchange settlement risk in over 100 banks and other institutions active in forex markets.
Financial-stability stress testing at BoE
Nigel Jenkinson, an executive director at the Bank of England, set out plans for a suite of models to map the effects of financial system stress.
Canada's monetary policy update
Two days after raising rates, the Bank of Canada published its update on monetary policy. "Some modest further increase in the policy rate may be required," it says.
Tanzanian governor "will not resign"
The governor of the Bank of Tanzania, Daudi Ballali, called a special press conference at the end of last week in which he denounced mounting allegations against him as "malicious lies and fabrications" and said he had no intention of resigning.
Su heads Chinese central bank's Shanghai office
Su Ning, a deputy governor of the People's Bank of China is to be chief of its Shanghai office. Su succeeds Xiang Junbo, who has been appointed as the president of the Agricultural Bank of China.
ECB paper on Fed and ECB response to shocks
This ECB working paper employs a medium-scale dynamic general equilibrium model with financial frictions to contrast the policy responses of the ECB and the Federal Reserve to economic shocks since 2001.
Sants named as new FSA chief executive
Hector Sants has been appointed chief executive of Britain's Financial Services Authority (FSA). He will take up the post on 20 July 2007, succeeding John Tiner who steps down at the Annual Public Meeting on 19 July.
New foreign exchange strategy in New Zealand
Allan Bollard, the governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, announced on 13 July that the central bank will move away from its current practice of matching its foreign assets to its foreign liabilities.