Central Banks
China's Wu Xiaoling cool on asset prices
The People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, will not use monetary policy directly to target stock market or real estate prices, deputy governor, Wu Xiaoling, said on 7 July.
Pension overhaul at the Bank of England
The Bank of England has traditionally had a generous final salary pension scheme, but it is now reported that it intends to close the scheme and raise the retirement age of new staff from 60 to 65.
South African reserves approach $26 billion
The South African Reserve Bank has announced that net gold and foreign exchange reserves rose last month to $25.94bn from $28.28bn at the end of May. The central bank said gross reserves were up at $28.28bn from $27.85bn the previous month, and net…
Peru's interest rates at six-year high
The Central Bank of Peru unexpectedly raised its reference rate to 4.75% from 4.5% on 5 July, as strong economic growth, boosted by domestic demand and metal exports, threatened rising inflation. The central bank said that the move was "preventative",…
Deputy chief of Korean watchdog cleared
Kim Jung-Hoe, a deputy chief of South Korea's financial regulator, the Financial Supervisory Service, has been cleared by a court of receiving bribes from a businessman.
Central banker to head Agricultural Bank
The deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, Xiang Junbo, has been appointed president of the state-owned Agricultural Bank of China, to deal with the bank's $99bn in bad debt and take it public.
Madigan appointed as key aide to Bernanke
The Federal Reserve Board yesterday named Brian F. Madigan as the chief adviser on interest rates to its chairman, Ben Bernanke.Madigan will take over as director of the division of monetary affairs on 23 July.
IMF paper on public debt markets
This IMF paper reviews the state of domestic public debt markets in Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.
Explaining interest rate differentials
In this NBER working paper, Marvin Goodfriend and Bennett T. McCallum, suggest that a central bank that fails to recognise the distinction between inter-bank and other short rates could miss its appropriate settings by as much as 4% per year.
New Mexican deputy governor confirmed
Roberto del Cuerto has been approved by the Mexican congress to become one of the central bank's four deputy governors. He will fill a position on the bank's monetary policy board which has been vacant for some months.
Bank Indonesia cuts benchmark interest rate
Bank Indonesia, the country's central bank, has cut its benchmark interest rate by a further 25 basis points to 8.25%, the governor Burhanuddin Abdullah announced on 5 July.
Bank of England raises bank rate by 0.25%
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England voted on 5 July to raise the official bank rate by 0.25% to 5.75%. The previous change in bank rate was an increase of 0.25% to 5.5% on May 10 this year.
New head at Canadian regulator
Jim Flaherty, the Canadian finance minister, has announced the appointment of Julie Dickson as the new head of the country's financial services regulator, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI).
Former BaFin employee guilty of embezzlement
A German court has found a former employee of BaFin, Germany's top financial markets regulator, guilty of embezzlement. The employee, whose name was not disclosed, was yesterday sentenced to six years in prison.
ECB leaves rates on hold
After leaving interest rates unchanged on 5 June, European Central Bank (ECB) president, Jean-Claude Trichet, signalled that the central bank will hike rates again later this year.
ECB's financial markets legislation
The European Central Bank (ECB) published "European Legislation on Financial Markets" on 3 July.
Turkey's payment systems
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published a report on payments systems in Turkey on 3 July.
No change in Australian interest rates
The Reserve Bank of Australia has left interest rates unchanged at 6.25%, where they have remained since November 2006. The decision was widely expected.
Unexpected June price rises in Chile
Consumer prices in Chile rose 0.9% in June, representing their biggest monthly rise since September 2005. Food and housing costs were largely responsible for the shock.
ECB's Smaghi: better communication on euro needed
"[The] euro area is fully equipped to manage its own currency ... [but] better discipline is required in the preparation of the euro area's position to ensure that a consistent message is sent to its partners," Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, member of the…
No challenge to European at IMF - Paulson
The American Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Paulson, says the United States will not challenge the long-standing tradition of allowing European countires to select the new managing director of the International Monetary Fund.
Mauritius raises rates to 9.25%
The Bank of Mauritius, the country's central bank, announced on 30 June that it had raised its key repo rate by 75 basis points to 9.25% with effect from 2 July. The decision came after the third meeting of the central bank's Monetary Policy Committee …
New acting governor for Nepalese central bank
The government of Nepal has appointed Krishna Bahadur Manandar as the acting governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, the country's central bank. The temporary appointment comes after the suspension of governor Bijayanath Bhattarai.