Central Banks
Papademos - ECB may have leeway for rate cuts
ECB Vice President Lucas Papademos told Corriere della Sera newspaper in an interview Friday that the economic situation had changed little since the ECB last cut its key interest rate in June and that "we might have room for manoeuvre in the future" if…
BOJ's Fukui says stock gains outweigh bond losses
Toshihiko Fukui said the Bank of Japan has no plan to "step in" and manipulate bond yields. Speaking at a monthly press conference he said Japanese banks probably earn more from stock market gains than they lose from lower bond prices, Bloomberg reported.
Polish central bank may lend State $3-4bn
A member of the national bank of Poland's (NBP) interest rate setting RPP said the NBP may lend the government upto $3-4bn. Dariusz Rosati said the loan would go part of the way to meeting persistent demands by the government that the Bank should support…
WAMZ holds conference over common central bank
A 2-day conference in Accra will discuss the creation of a common central bank in the West African region by July 2005, The Chronicle reported. J.B. Clottey of the Bank of Ghana said he believes that through the implementation of a central bank, member…
Time 'not right' for yuan float
Responding to comments Wednesday by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan that China eventually will need to float its currency, the yuan, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said the current exchange rate helps China's development and the rest…
South African central banker defies ex-comrades
In an interview with Bloomberg News, Tito Mboweni of the South African Reserve Bank said markets have begun to price in a fairly successful South African story. He claims not to be an ambitious person, but at only 44 still have a lot to do in life,…
Philadelphia Fed survey rises sharply in July
The Philadelphia Fed's Business Outlook Survey improved modestly in July, BizWorld reported. Company executives polled for the survey remain "generally optimistic" that business conditions will improve over the next six months, the survey showed.
US signals formal end to recession
The business-cycle dating committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research on Thursday declared that the US recession ended in November 2001. The committee said GDP suggested the economy began recovering in late 2001 and has since risen above its…
Czech National Bank - Annual Report 2002
The Czech National Bank has published its Annual Report for the year ended 2002. In the Governor's Foreword Zdenek Tuma said the first ten years of the Czech National Bank's existence came to a close in 2002, and the Czech currency - the koruna - also…
BoJ's Taya on recent economic developments
In the speech 'Recent Economic Developments and Monetary Policy' Teizo Taya of the Bank of Japan said he was still against the adoption of inflation targeting. Under certain circumstances, it is considered to promote the accountability and effectiveness…
Solans on the structure of the financial system
In the speech 'Why does the structure of the financial system matter?' Eugenio Domingo Solans of the ECB said financial structures are crucial to the allocation of resources in a modern economy. They can be compared with a system of arterial circulation…
Poole on housing in the macroeconomy
In the speech 'Housing in the Macroeconomy' William Poole of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis said the US has enjoyed many years of a rising stock of residential capital. Moreover, dwellings have increased in average size and quality. The nation's…
Fed Reserve Bank of Kansas - Annual Report 2002
The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City has published its Annual Report for the year ended 2002. In the President's Message Thomas Hoenig said the watchword at the Kansas City Fed during 2002 was uncertainty. An uneven economic recovery, erosion in asset…
ECB's biannual information on euro counterfeiting
In the first half of 2003, 230,534 counterfeit euro banknotes were removed from circulation, the ECB reported Wednesday. This compares with the 145,153 counterfeits removed in the previous six-month period. However, the ECB reports that over recent…
Waigel says ECB president deal never existed
Former German finance minister Theo Waigel said in an article published in the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Tuesday that no deal ever existed for Wim Duisenberg to stop down half way through his term as president of the ECB to make way for a…
Afghan central bank to restrict capital outflows
Anwar Ahady, president of Afghanistan's central bank said Wednesday the Bank will impose a limit of the equivalent of 10,000 US dollars that any individual and organization can take out of the country, Xinhua News Agency said.
ATM figures show Spain top with 1,123 per million
Figures compiled jointly by the ECB and Bank of Israel show that Spain has the highest number of ATM's per capita while Italy made the highest withdrawals from ATM's at €163 per capita, Reuters reported.
Oblath - Forint strengthening 'matter of time'
After receiving his official appointment to the Monetary Council of the national bank of Hungary, Gabor Oblath said reducing inflation was the highest priority for the Council. Oblath had previously resigned from the Council in January but agreed to…
What to do about the Yuan
This article looks at Alan Greenspan's comments this week that China's currency peg is unsustainable with a huge accumulation of US dollar reserves standing at $346.5 billion at the end of June. The pace of the increase in flows is astounding, the Asian…
Czech president against single EU currency
Czech President Vaclav Klaus, currently on a visit to France said he believes that it was unwise to adopt a single European currency because it is not necessary to get rid of one's monetary policy, one's interest rate policy and exchange rate Czech radio…
Polish premier seeks agreement with central bank
Polish prime minister Leszek Miller said Thursday he sees room for interest rate cuts as inflation is not a problem in Poland and hoped for a harmonised economic and monetary policy, PAP news agency said.
Dinkic says EU warn to respect c bank independence
Mladjan Dinkic said late Wednesday that the Serbian national bank had received a letter from the European Commission warning the government "to strictly respect the independence of the central bank" if it wanted to be admitted into the EU.
ECB Monthly Bulletin, July 2003
The European Central Bank published its July 2003 Monthly Bulletin on 17 July. In the report the ECB said that abiding by the rules of the Stability and Growth Pact would help boost economic confidence in the euro area. The report also described interest…
Bank of Canada trims growth and inflation forecast
The Bank of Canada again reduced its growth forecast for 2003 on Thursday. Bank Governor David Dodge referred to "unanticipated" developments that have caused it to lower its forecast, including SARS, BSE and the rising value of the Canadian dollar…