Central Banks
IMF report says ECB has room for hikes - FT
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the European Central Bank (ECB) has more room for further interest rate increases if eurozone growth improves further, the Financial Times said Wednesday 28 March, citing a draft copy of the IMF World Economic…
Gonzalez-Paramo: Inflation risks still on upside
European Central Bank board member Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo said Wednesday 28 March the eurozone still faces significant inflation risks.
Perhaps the FOMC did what it said it did
The Bank of Canada Working Paper "Perhaps the FOMC did what it said it did: An alternative interpretation of the great inflation" uses real-time briefing forecasts prepared for the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to provide estimates of historical…
Bernanke says Chinese $ holdings not problem
China`s accumulation of United States debt is not a problem for the US or for the Federal Reserve monetary policy, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said in a letter dated 16 March but released on Monday 27 March.
EU agrees cross-border payment plan
EU finance ministers on Tuesday 27 March agreed a plan to make cross-border payments more efficient throughout the 27-nation bloc and set new rules to limit political interference in banking takeovers.
ECB's Tumpel-Gugerell on payment systems issues
In the speech 'Regulatory framework and payment systems issues' given on 23 March Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell of the ECB said within the European Union, it will be important for the proposed Payment Services Directive to be adopted and written into national…
RBA Financial Stability Review, March 2007
The Reserve Bank of Australia published the March 2007 edition of its Financial Stability Review on Monday 26 March. There are few risks to financial stability with the level of problem loans quite low and households adopting a cautious approach to their…
Bini Smaghi says ECB must remove inflation risks
European Central Bank board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi said Monday 26 March the ECB still needs to take action to eliminate remaining inflation risks in the eurozone.
April rate hike not too late - BOJ minutes
One of the Bank of Japan's nine policy board members called on the central bank to be cautious about hiking interest rates in light of slow wage growth and sluggish consumption, the minutes of the BoJ's Feb 20-21 meeting released Monday 26 March showed.
Quaden on the cash single shared platform
In the speech 'CashSSP - the cash single shared platform' given on 16 March Guy Quaden of the National Bank of Belgium said the Eurosystem has established itself as a sound system capable of taking well-founded monetary policy decisions.
RBI's Reddy on globalisation and monetary policy
In the speech 'Globalisation and monetary policy - some emerging issues' given on 19 March Y V Reddy of the RBI said economists have for long recognised the strong complementarities between the real and the financial sectors.
Fed steps back from a tilt toward higher rates
According to this article from John Berry at Bloomberg, published Thursday 22 March, Federal Reserve officials have taken a small step toward a more balanced view of whether their next interest rate move would be up or down.
Fukui says BOJ to help economy with low rates
Bank of Japan governor Toshihiko Fukui told lawmakers Thursday 22 March that the central bank will help maintain economic growth under price stability by keeping very low interest rates "for now" and vary them only gradually in line with the economic…
ECB's Trichet on monetary policy
In testimony to the European Parliament given on 21 March Jean-Claude Trichet of the ECB said eurozone interest rates are now moderate but remain slightly accommodative.
BoE's MPC voted 8-1 to keep rates on hold
The Bank of England's rate-setting body voted 8-1 to keep interest rates unchanged at its 8 March meeting, with David Blanchflower alone voting for a quarter point cut, minutes published Wednesday 21 March showed.
Sri Lanka maintaining growth momentum
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka's Monetary Policy Review for March 2007 says the economy has shown early signs of continuing its high growth momentum experienced in 2006 in 2007.
McTeer says FOMC 'frozen in place'
The Federal Reserve will hold interest rates steady amid "unusual" simultaneous signals of both higher inflation and slower growth in coming months, said Robert McTeer, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, in an interview published…
A fresh mandate for RBI
India needs to debate the conduct of its monetary policy, according to this article published Tuesday 20 March by The Indian Express.
ECB's Garganas says rates may not have peaked
A recent change in European Central Bank language on monetary policy does not mean that interest rates are near a peak, Nicholas Garganas said in an interview published Monday 19 March.
Zhou says China to stop accumulating reserves
China will stop increasing its huge foreign exchange reserves, People's Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan said in an interview published Tuesday 20 March.
BoJ's Fukui says markets saw 'healthy correction'
Bank of Japan governor Toshihiko Fukui said on Tuesday 20 March the central bank will closely monitor global equity markets for further developments, but stressed that the recent worldwide sell-off has been a "healthy correction."
Liikanen on the cash single shared platform
In the speech 'CashSSP - the cash single shared platform' given on 16 March Erkki Liikanen of the Bank of Finland said we expect that all Eurosystem central banks can and will participate in the emerging division of labour on the basis of reasonable…
New developments in clearing and settlement
The Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) issued a report on New developments in clearing and settlement arrangements for OTC derivatives on 16 March.
A primer on sovereign debt buybacks and swaps
This IMF Working Paper sets forth some basic principles that could help debt managers in emerging market and other countries to plan and implement sovereign debt buyback and swap operations.