Central Banks
Sweden's Ingves on cash management
In the speech 'Cash management - an important social issue' given on 26 April Stefan Ingves of the Sveriges Riksbank said one of the Riksbank's tasks is to promote a safe and efficient payment system.
RBNZ leaves OCR unchanged at 7.25 per cent
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand announced on Thursday 27 April that the Official Cash Rate (OCR) will remain at 7.25 per cent.
Bank of England appoints Chief Legal Adviser
The Bank of England announced on Thursday 27 April that Dame Juliet Wheldon has been appointed Chief Legal Adviser and Adviser to the Governor.
Nacha honours Fed vice chairman Roger Ferguson
The Electronic Payments Association will present its 2006 George Mitchell Payments System Excellence Award to Roger Ferguson, Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve, who is completing his service to the Federal Reserve and the U.S. payments system on 28…
Interview with Zhang Zhuoyuan
In an interview published on Wednesday 26 April, Zhang Zhuoyuan of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said China may widen the yuan's trading band when "suitable" to allow more gains and boost investors' role in setting exchange rates.
Comments: Reserve diversification
Recent reports of the diversification official foreign exchange reserves in the Middle East have not gone unnoticed. Economists are starting to ask if the prospect of large-scale reserve diversification is back on the international agenda, following a…
Strategist says central banks may sell dollars
Central banks are likely to sell dollars in 2006 as they move to diversify their reserves in favour of the euro, according to BNP Paribas SA.
ECB to weigh rate options - Gonzalez-Paramo
ECB executive board member Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo said on Tuesday 25 April that the euro zone central bank will debate raising interest rates at its meeting next week, but nothing was fixed.
Srejber on how the Riksbank's assets are managed
In the speech 'How the Riksbank's financial assets are managed' given on 25 April Eva Srejber of the Sveriges Riksbank said by investing in asset types with credit risk, that is, other fixed-income securities than government bonds, we can increase the…
How/why do consumers choose their payment methods?
In this Kansas City Fed RWP Stacey Schreft takes a detailed look at the state of research on this subject, where research needs to go, and why such research is important for monetary policymakers and banking regulators.
Bank of Canada raises interest rates
The Bank of Canada on Tuesday 25 April announced that it is raising its target for the overnight rate by one-quarter of one percentage point to 4 per cent.
ECB talk of normalising rates confirms slow pace
This article published on Monday 24 April suggests that a recent shift in ECB rhetoric to talk of normalising interest rates appears to confirm that the central bank has in mind a slow and steady course of rate hikes.
Comment: Will the Fund's new approach matter?
Stephen Roach, managing director and chief economist of Morgan Stanley, suggests that the renewed debate on the role of the international financial institutions is missing questions that "should be near the top of the global agenda".
SARB launch Vision 2010 for payment system
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) on Thursday 20 April launched a document containing strategic guidelines for the national payment system.
Language: Breaking the code of the Fed
This article published on Monday 24 April sets out to decipher the language of the Federal Reserve System, otherwise known as the House of Hints, it says.
Mario Draghi to succeed Roger Ferguson at FSF
Following consultations within the Financial Stability Forum's (FSF) membership, the G7 Finance Ministers and central bank Governors on Monday 24 April confirmed their support for the designation of Mario Draghi as Chairman of the FSF.
Fed's Ferguson warns over shock potential
U.S. Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Roger Ferguson on Saturday 22 April cautioned that the tranquillity of financial markets in recent years does not mean that they were not vulnerable to more severe shocks.
Riksbank changes currency allocation
Sweden's Riksbank announced on Friday 21 April that it has reallocated the currency holdings in the bank's foreign currency reserves. The changes include a move away from US dollar holdings in favour of euros.
Interview with Fed's Roger Ferguson
In an interview published on Friday 21 April, Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Roger Ferguson said if there were a sense that the economy was at great risk, he would not want to leave the Fed.
Reserve diversification
Sweden's central bank is the world's oldest, and according to this article published on Friday 21 April, it is also proving to be among the most proactive in managing its foreign exchange reserves.
Comment: Sweden sheds reserve dollars
The Swedish Riksbank dropped a bit of a bombshell on international currency markets on Friday 21 April by announcing a significant reduction in the share of dollars and yen in its foreign reserves portfolio. Although Sweden has a relatively small…
BoJ overpays on travel expenses
The Bank of Japan has paid overstated amounts of domestic travel expenses claimed by some of its personnel and has been told by the Board of Audit of Japan to correct the problem, Jiji Press reported Thursday 20 April.