Central Banks
ECB sets Nov 2007 date for TARGET2
The European Central Bank on Friday 21 July confirmed the starting date for its payment system TARGET2 as 19 Nov 2007.
Muto says BOJ will take its time with rate rises
Bank of Japan deputy governor Toshiro Muto said Friday 21 July the central bank will take its time with future interest rate increases, and the current accommodative conditions are likely to stay for now.
Minutes show Fed unsure on future rate path
Federal Reserve officials were uncertain about future interest rate steps at their last meeting, minutes released Thursday 20 July showed.
Some BOJ members wanted 0.5% hike - report says
Jiji Press reported on Friday 21 July that three Bank of Japan Policy Board members sought a steeper increase in the official discount rate at the central bank's meeting last week.
Minutes show BOJ waited to monitor markets
Minutes released on Thursday 20 July showed the Bank of Japan put off raising interest rates from zero at a board meeting in June because it wanted to monitor factors such as global markets and the U.S. economy.
Juncker says ECB not only one concerned on rates
The exchange rate policy is not the exclusive domain of the European Central Bank, the head of the Eurogroup Jean-Claude Juncker said in a newspaper interview published Thursday 20 July.
Mishkin approved by Senate Banking panel
The Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday 19 July approved the nomination of academic Frederic Mishkin to be a member of the Federal Reserve Board of governors.
Comment: Noyer takes Kroes to task
The Bank of France governor, Christian Noyer, said on 18 July that the European Commission is "playing a very dangerous game" in attempting to break open the European credit card market. How legitimate are his concerns?
Federal Reserve's Monetary Policy Report, Jul 2006
The Federal Reserve published its July 2006 Monetary Policy Report to the Congress on Wednesday 19 July. The U.S. economy continued to expand at a brisk rate, on balance, over the first half of 2006, the report said.
Bank of England voted 7-0 to hold rates
Minutes from the Bank of England's 5 and 6 July Monetary Policy Committee meeting, published Wednesday 19 July, showed policy makers voted unanimously to keep the benchmark interest rate at 4.5 percent this month.
Former RBA official supports Stevens
Former Reserve Bank of Australia board member Dick Warburton was quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald as saying that he has a lot of faith in the central bank's deputy governor Glenn Stevens.
ADB says China must tighten monetary policy
A senior Asian Development Bank official told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday 18 July that China needs to tighten its monetary policy to tackle an overheated economy and cut inefficient investment.
Comment: Bernanke focuses on risks
In his remarks following the delivery of the Fed's semi-annual monetary policy to Congress, Fed chairman, Ben Bernanke, adopted an approach very much in keeping with his predecessor, Alan Greenspan. What does this mean for the Fed's inflation targeting…
Bollard on agriculture, monetary policy, economy
In the speech 'Agriculture, monetary policy and the economy' given on 18 July Alan Bollard of the RBNZ said at the moment the New Zealand economy is moving into a rebalancing period.
Villasante steps down from Bank of Spain
Pedro Pablo Villasante, the director of supervision at the Bank of Spain, is to be nominated secretary-general of the Spanish banking association, the AEB, El Pais reported.
Comment: Rethinking financial stability reporting
The Bank of England recently unveiled its revamped Financial Stability Report. Starting with the title of the publication, the Bank has taken a new approach to both the presentation of report and its content. The changes are an effort to focus the report…
US says IMF gold revaluation not an option
U.S. Treasury Under Secretary Tim Adams said on Monday 17 July that it would not be appropriate for International Monetary Fund gold reserves to be revalued to support its financing to make up for reduced demand for emergency loans.
BoE paper on efficient payment systems
The Bank of England Working Paper "The welfare benefits of stable and efficient payment systems" examines the importance of smoothly functioning payment systems to the economy by extending a recently developed theoretical model of banks.
Former Banque du Liban governor dies aged 91
Philippe Taqla, who held various official positions including governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, died recently aged 91.
Welmega declines Sri Lanka monetary board post
Newspaper reports said businessman Nimal Welgama has rejected a seat on the monetary board of the Central bank of Sri Lanka due to an ongoing inquiry by the central bank.
ACU to discuss payment systems efficiency
Members of the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) will meet in Dhaka this week to discuss ways to make their payment systems easier to use to boost trade, a Bangladesh central bank official told Reuters.
Comment: More pounds in their pockets
According to the most recent IMF data on reserve holdings, the pound sterling has surpassed the yen as the third most popular reserve currency. A number of factors could see the pound's popularity increase further.
IMF paper on international policy coordination
The IMF Working Paper "International policy coordination and simple monetary policy rules" studies the optimal design of monetary policy in an optimizing two-country sticky price model.