Central Banks
Euro group set to nominate Buba's Stark to ECB
Eurozone finance ministers are set to nominate Bundesbank vice-president Juergen Stark next week for the European Central Bank executive board post, an EU official told reporters Thursday 9 February.
Fiji announces new banknote designs
The Reserve Bank of Fiji on Friday 10 February signed an agreement for the printing of a series of new design Fiji banknotes with De La Rue International Limited of United Kingdom.
RBNZ to raise Settlement Cash Level to $2,000m
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand will raise the Settlement Cash Level (SCL) from its current level of $500 million to $2,000 million, for value date 13 February 2006.
Japan's Diet approves Suda's reappointment at BOJ
The Diet gave approval on Friday 10 February to a government plan to retain Miyako Suda as a member of the Bank of Japan's policy panel for a second five-year term.
Albania to adopt inflation target
In this speech delivered in Vienna on January 18, 2006 the Governor of the Bank of Albania, Ardian Fullani, reiterates the central bank's intension to switch to fully-fledged inflation targeting.
Bank of Korea hikes rates again
The Bank of Korea raised its benchmark overnight call rate by 25 basis points at their monthly monetary policy meeting in Seoul yesterday. In doing so, governor Park Seung and his six fellow policymakers raised the overnight call rate to 4%.
BoJ - inflation to accelerate in Q1
The Bank of Japan's (BoJ) nine-member board ended Thursday's monetary policy meeting by keeping policy unchanged. BoJ governor, Toshihiko Fukui, said he expected inflation to accelerate in first quarter of 2006.
BoE leaves rates unchanged
The Bank of England left interest rates unchanged at 4.5% following its two-day monetary policy meeting. The bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) last cut rates in August 2005, when policy rates were reduced by 0.25%.
Big reserve holders in Asia
The president of the Asian Development Bank, Haruhiko Kuroda, told Dow Jones newswires yesterday that "emerging economies in Asia are well advised to decelerate the accumulation of foreign exchange reserves". "Many of them have more than enough", he said.
Comment: BoJ and inflation targeting
As the Bank of Japan's "quantitative easing" policy nears its end, the question of whether the central bank may soon set an explicit inflation target is being hotly debated. Although the BoJ is still resisting the adopting the framework, the tide may…
Israeli CB deputies to go
The two deputy governors of the Bank of Israel, Meir Sokoler and Avia Spivak, will retire from the central bank at the end of the month. The governor of the Bank of Israel, Stanley Fischer, informed the Israeli Minister of Finance of the move earlier…
Australian rates unchanged
The Reserve Bank of Australia yesterday left the overnight cash rate at 5.5%, following its first interest rate meeting of the year. Australia is in the midst of its most stable economic period in three decades, with only one change in monetary policy in…
Research on inflation targetting
In this theoretical paper Felipe F. Schwartzman of Princeton University looks at how inflation-targeting central banks using target bands, as opposed to point targets, can go about addressing both inflation and stability biases.
Comment: Bernanke gets more time
The new Fed chairman, Ben Bernanke, will have an extra day to listen to different opinions and pore over the latest data on the American economy at his first FOMC meeting. Yesterday's news that the March 28 meeting will be expanded could increase…
Germany to issue inflation-linked bonds
The German government plans to issue inflation-linked bonds this year, but is hoping for an uptick in inflation expectations to time the sale Gerhard Schleif, the head of the nation's debt agency, told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview yesterday.
Indonesian rates on hold
The Central Bank of Indonesia yesterday left interest rates unchanged at 12.75% for a second month, as economic growth slowed down. Six interest rate increases since July have helped the rupiah recover from a four-year low on August 30 last year amid…
German gold debate rages on
The debate in Germany about the Bundesbank's gold reserves and salary bonuses is continuing.
RBI third quarter review
On January 24 Reserve Bank of India governor, Dr Y Venugopal Reddy, presented the central bank's third quarter review of annual monetary policy for the year 2005-06.
IMF survey
The new IMF survey includes an overview of the recent reshuffling of the Fund's financial sector department. IMF Managing Director, Rodrigo de Rato, announced plans to create a new department on February 1, 2006.
SARB's Mboweni highlights inflation risks
The South African Reserve Bank last week left the repurchase rate unchanged at 7%, but governor, Tito Mboweni, cautioning that robust domestic demand together with oil and food prices posed potential risks to the inflation outlook.
More hikes ahead - Sweden's Ingves
New Swedish central bank governor, Stefan Ingves, said on Monday 6 February that he expected a continued gradual increase in interest rates. The speech, given at Umea University, was Ingves' first public appearance since his appointment at the start of…
New conflict over Bundesbank bonus cuts
The new spat between the German finance ministry and the Bundesbank has developed over cuts in the compensation schemes of the central bank's staff.
BoJ to implement next-generation RTGS project
The Bank of Japan said Friday it has decided to implement the next-generation real-time gross settlement (RTGS-XG) project.