Central Banks
RBNZ appoints Spencer assistant governor
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand announced on 4 August the appointment of Grant Spencer as Assistant Governor/Head of Economics.
PBOC appoints assistants to the governor
The People's Bank of China has appointed three assistants to the governor in what is seen as a final stroke to the planned management overhaul after Zhou Xiaochuan took the helm at the central bank at the end of 2002, the 21st Century Business Herald…
Bangladesh Bank hires modernisation consultant
Bangladesh Bank will hire a consultant on a two-year contract under a central bank strengthening project, funded mostly by World Bank credit, Matamat reported quoting official sources.
Bomb threat forces People's Bank to evacuate HQ
The headquarters of the People's Bank of China was evacuated after a man threatened to blow up the building, a senior official of the central bank said this week, according to AFP.
New South Korean regulator named
Roh Moo-hyun, South Korea's president, named Yoon Jeung-hyun, a director of the Asian Development Bank, as the new head of the country's top financial regulator this week.
Brazil's Meirelles denies fresh allegations
Brazil's central bank chief Henrique Meirelles on Thursday 5 August denied he evaded taxes after new allegations he failed to declare all his assets to Brazilian tax authorities. The leader of the main opposition party called on Mr Meirelles to resign…
How did the Fed respond to the stock market?
The appropriate role for equity prices in monetary policy deliberations has been hotly debated for some time. In this Discussion Paper from the Boston Fed the authors show that after controlling for the information that actually enters the FOMC's…
Annual meetings of IMF and World Bank, 2-3 October
The Executive Boards of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group have decided that the Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors, along with related meetings and events, will take place in Washington, D.C. on October 2-3, 2004.
CNB's Racocha on payments systems
In the speech 'Payments systems and financial stability' given on 8 July Pavel Racocha of the Czech National Bank said the main and most real challenge connected with the payment system in the Czech Republic is EU accession. Legal changes have already…
RBNZ's Bollard defends rate rises
The governor of New Zealand's central bank, Alan Bollard, has defended lifting interest rates to the highest level in the developed world, citing pervasive capacity constraints and inflation pressures.
Deutsche Bundesbank Monthly Report, July 2004
The Deutsche Bundesbank published the English version of its July 2004 monthly report on 5 August. June saw a slowdown in the rise in consumer prices, with the general price level falling slightly in seasonally adjusted terms.
South African Reserve Bank - Annual Report 2004
The South African Reserve Bank published its Annual Report for the year ended 2004 on 2 August. The SARB achieved success on many fronts during the past year. By far the most important achievement was the downward movement in the rate of inflation to…
Bank of England lifts rates to 4.75%, ECB holds
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted to raise the Bank's repo rate by 0.25 percentage points on Thursday 5 August. The Bank said that its decision reflected continued strong growth which is likely to lead to rising inflationary pressures…
Implementing Basel II in non-Basel member states
This fourth FSI Occasional Paper summarises the results of a Basel II Implementation Assistance Questionnaire for selected non-Basel Committee member countries. The paper presents the responses to the Questionnaire from a global perspective, highlighting…
National Bank of Austria - Annual Report 2003
The National Bank of Austria has published its Annual Report for the year ended 2003. In 2003 Austria slightly outperformed its main trading partners and the euro area as a whole, which was attributable, among other things, to the economic stimulus and…
Rato promises more effective IMF
Rodrigo Rato on Wednesday 4 August promised changes at the International Monetary Fund that would ensure its assistance to Africa was more effective and debt relief more readily available.
Japan report solid economic recovery, warns on oil
"The economy is recovering at a solid pace as improvements in the corporate sector are extending into the household sector," the Cabinet Office said in a monthly economic report on Thursday 5 August.
OECD says Germany unlikely to meet deficit targets
Germany is unlikely to meet its fiscal deficit targets in 2004 and 2005, and its growth forecast "appears to be on the optimistic side" the OECD said in a report on the German economy.
Research says BoE's MPC lacks 'vigorous debate'
Research published on Thursday 5 August suggested the Bank of England's interest rate setting Monetary Policy Committee lacks "vigorous debate" partly explained by the increasingly dominant influence of Mervyn King.
IMF's Carstens on the challenges facing the IMF
In a speech on 'The challenges facing the IMF' given on 27 July, Agustin Carstens of the IMF said he believes we have a good handle on the avenues that should be pursued for improving the Fund's ability to identify emerging problems. What is less certain…