Central Banks
Broaddus of Richmond Fed announces plan to retire
J. Alfred Broaddus, Jr., president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, announced on Thursday 13 November that he plans to retire on August 1, 2004, according to Associated Press. He turns 65 next July. 'It has been a great privilege to serve the…
Metcalfe named chair of St. Louis Fed's Board
The Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis has named Walter Metcalfe Jr. as chairman of its Board of Governors, with effect from 1 January 2004, reports the St Louis Business Journal. Gayle Jackson has been named deputy chair.
Baghdad's central bankers come under fire
Staff at the central bank of Iraq were evacuated on Monday 17 November while a rocket that landed close to the bank was defused, according to a report by AFP. The centre of Baghdad came under intense fire on Sunday with a report saying the central bank…
Ben Bernanke takes oath of office for new Fed term
Ben Bernanke took the oath of office last Friday, 14 November, for a new term on the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors. The ceremony was conducted by Chairman Alan Greenspan in his office and was witnessed by Bernanke's wife and children.
Sports talk, central bank style
Mervyn King is a well known supporter of English premier league football team Aston Villa. But the Bank of England Governor doesn't confine his support to the stadium. Last weeks Inflation Report presentation continued King's regular habit of making…
Canada's Dodge on Challenges and Opportunities
In a speech on 'Global Challenges, Canadian Opportunities' given on 17 November, David Dodge of the Bank of Canada said Canada has focused too much attention for too long on trade with the United States and now must look beyond North America for future…
Heikensten: Developments follow Inflation Report
Sveriges Riksbank Governor Lars Heikensten gave a speech at the Swedish Bankers' Association's meeting on 13 November. He said that international developments have largely followed the Riksbank's forecast over the past month, confirming the picture of…
Opening date of BOJ Representative Office, Beijing
The Bank of Japan will open its representative office in Beijing on 18 December 2003. As a result, there will be multiple BOJ representative offices in Asia as well as the Americas and Europe. The bank said it hopes this network of representative offices…
HKMA relocates its offices
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced on 18 November that it has officially relocated its offices to Two International Finance Centre (2 IFC). The office relocation is being undertaken in phases during the month of November.
Australia's RBA: Monetary policy can fix bubbles
Research published on Tuesday 17 November by the Reserve Bank of Australia suggests monetary policy can help to reduce asset price bubbles, according to a Dow Jones report. An active strategy, the paper says, requires judgements to be made about what is…
BoC's Dodge says he favours global trade strategy
Speaking on Monday 17 November, David Dodge said floating currencies can act as "shock absorbers" by rising and falling in response to economic conditions, according to Canadian Press. A floating Canadian dollar has provided "a real advantage" for Canada…
IMF: South Korea on road to recovery
The IMF has forecast growth rates of 4.75 percent in 2004 and 5.5 percent in 2005 for South Korea, according to CNN. The Fund's Asia-Pacific chief Joshua Felman said on Tuesday 18 November that the Korean economy was on its way to recovery, but stressed…
Bank of Israel: Abolish fluctuation band now
Bank of Israel deputy division head David El-Kayam has recommended abolishing Israel's exchange rate fluctuation band and switching to a fully floating exchange rate regime, according to Globes Online. "It seems that right now, when the chances of…
Euro inflation falls to three-month low
The annual rate of inflation in the eurozone fell to its lowest level in three months in October as energy, transport and entertainment costs declined, Reuters reports. Eurostat said on Tuesday 18 November that the rate fell to 2.0 percent on a year-on…
Russian central bank holds rigid ruble policy
Oleg Vyugin, first deputy chairman of the Russian central bank, said on Monday 17 November, "So far the Central Bank is not ready to use foreign exchange policy to a full extent to meet inflation target", according to Reuters. His comments followed calls…
Moskow on communicating U.S. monetary policy
In a speech on 'Formulating and Communicating U.S. Monetary Policy' given on 13 November, Michael Moskow of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said despite all of our econometric models and equations, monetary policy is still more of an art than a…
Caruana: Challenges for European monetary policy
In a speech on 'The European monetary policy: main challenges in the current environment' given on 13 November, Jaime Caruana of the Bank of Spain said the New Accord, the so-called Basel II, is based on three pillars: risk-sensitive minimum capital…
ECB new ruling on central bank capital
CentralBankNet investigates a new ruling by the ECB with wide implications for all the central banks of the euro area. The present situation, under which the national central banks are in effect national investment funds, is uncomfortable. If the ECB…
RBZ calls for concerted fight against inflation
Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank called for a concerted fight against inflation last Thursday, 13 November, according to Associated Press. In its latest weekly economic highlights it said "Given the vagaries of high inflation in the economy, the need for…
Finnish gov't approves central bank Board plan
Finland's government approved a measure on Thursday 13 November, according to Helsingin Sanomat, that would see responsibility for the appointment of members to the Board of the Bank of Finland shift to the Parliamentary Supervisory Council.