Central Banks
Preliminary report on security of banknote storage
Sir John Gieve, Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, on Friday 10 March delivered to Mervyn King, the Governor, his confidential preliminary report on the security of banknote storage.
UAE considers reserves switch to euros
The United Arab Emirates is considering moving 10 percent of its foreign currency reserves out of U.S. dollars and into the euro, the Khalij Times reported Monday 13 March.
BoJ's Mizuno says rate hikes necessary - report
Atsushi Mizuno, a Bank of Japan policy board member, has said that raising interest rates is necessary to have some flexibility in managing monetary policy, Jiji Press reported.
Bank of Japan takes big risk with policy change
According to this article published on Friday 10 March, by ditching its quantitative easing policy the Bank of Japan may be making one of the biggest mistakes in its history.
Illiquidity in the interbank payment system
The March 2006 New York Fed Staff Report "Illiquidity in the interbank payment system following wide-scale disruptions" shows how the interbank payment system can become illiquid following wide-scale disruptions.
Keep politics out of Bank of Spain, says PP leader
People's Party (PP) leader Mariano Rajoy said on Wednesday 8 March that he does not agree that Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordoez, the current secretary of state for internal revenue, should be the next governor of the Bank of Spain.
Central Bank of Turkey governor named - report
A press report on Thursday 9 March said the replacement has been chosen for Sureyya Serdengecti, after he resigns on 13 March as governor of Turkey's central bank.
Malaysia's Zeti gets new five-year term
Malaysian central bank governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz's term in office has been extended for another five years, effective from 1 May, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Finance on Friday 10 March.
Comment: Unravelling the BoJ message
The Bank of Japan put an end to its "quantitative easing" policy last week. Although the timing was slightly ahead of expectations, the move itself was widely anticipated. Attention has now turned to unravelling the implications of the central bank's new…
Fukui: Zero rate policy can't last 'indefinitely'
Bank of Japan governor, Toshihiko Fukui, said on Friday 10 March that the central bank won't keep borrowing costs at zero forever.
China considering expansion of HK yuan business
The Chinese government may allow Hong Kong companies to issue yuan-denominated bonds and settle trade transactions using the yuan, in order to expand yuan business in the city, Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China (PBoC) said, according…
RBNZ Monetary Policy Statement, March 2006
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand published its March 2006 Monetary Policy Statement on 9 March. The report said that economic indicators are now clearly signalling a slowdown, following New Zealand's longest economic expansion in 30 years.
New vice-governor for Slovak central bank
The National Bank of Slovakia is to get a new vice-governor, the Slovak Spectator reported.
RBNZ leaves OCR unchanged at 7.25 per cent
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand announced on Thursday 9 March that its Official Cash Rate (OCR) will remain on hold at 7.25 per cent.
Bank of Japan's statement on policy guidelines
Following is the full text of the Bank of Japan's statement on its change in monetary policy guidelines, Thursday 9 March.
IMF upholds sanctions against Zimbabwe
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund met Wednesday 8 March to review Zimbabwe's overdue financial obligations to the Fund and consider the sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe.
Bank of Japan ends quantitative-easing policy
The Bank of Japan voted 7-1 to end its five-year-old super-easy monetary policy on Thursday 9 March at the end of a two-day meeting, but said it will maintain short-term interest rates near zero until its next meeting in April.
Comment: Measuring financial fragility
Central banks and regulators have created well-staffed financial stability departments, producing voluminous reports and reviews. However, policymakers are not always sure what they are aiming at in this opaque, but systemically important, area. New…
IMF paper on banks during the Argentine crisis
According to the IMF Working Paper "Banks during the Argentine crisis: Were they all hurt equally? Did they all behave equally?" published February 2006, the simple answer to both questions in the title is: No.
Greenspan's memoirs sold to Penguin
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan signed a deal on Tuesday to publish his memoirs with The Penguin Press.
Swedish Riksbank unanimous in rate hike decision
The Swedish Riksbank's board was unanimous in its 22 February decision to raise the repo rate by 0.25 pct to 2 pct, according to the minutes of the meeting published Wednesday.
Comment: Has the ECB become more credible?
A recent New York Fed staff paper finds that market perceptions of the ECB's "inflation aversion" have improved significantly over the last six years, reflecting the idea that monetary policy has been guided by a dedication to price stability.
ECB warns on further Asian reserves build-up
The ECB said in a paper published Wednesday 8 March that a further build-up of foreign exchange reserves in Asia could lead to problems such as inflation pressures and asset price bubbles.
Riksbank to introduce new, more secure banknotes
On 15 March, Sweden's Riksbank will introduce new, more secure 50-krona and 1,000-krona banknotes.