Central Banks
Russia's Ignatyev upbeat on inflation, currency
Russia has a good chance it can meet its inflation and foreign exchange targets despite rising oil prices and its budget situation, Russian Central Bank Governor Sergei Ignatyev said on Wednesday 26 May.
Brazil sticks to 5.5 % inflation target
Brazil's central bank continues to target inflation of 5.5 per cent this year despite the rising cost of oil and market expectations that consumer prices will rise, the bank's president said on Wednesday 26 May .
Trichet at the Bank of Russia Seminar
In a speech to the Joint Eurosystem - Bank of Russia Seminar, Helsinki given on 25 May Jean-Claude Trichet of the ECB said with this seminar we want to strengthen and broaden our dialogue on all central banking issues, taking account of developments not…
Greenspan, his limo rides, and interest rates
The Republican central banker's visits to the White House have nearly quadrupled since Bush replaced President Clinton, according to this article. His visits lead to two intriguing questions, the article says. How involved is the Fed chairman in setting…
Fed Reserve Bank of Boston - Annual Report 2003
The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston has published its Annual Report for the year ended 2003. In the Feature Essay "Embracing Change" president Cathy Minehan looks at the payments evolution, new approaches to education, and managing risk - changes in the…
Norway holds interest rate unchanged
Norway's central bank, Norges Bank, kept its key interest rate unchanged at their Wednesday meeting at 1.75 percent. Norges Bank maintained its outlook of easing bias suggesting they still believe that the next rate movement will more likely be a cut…
Conference on e-money to convene in Iran
The secretariat of the Supreme Council for Information Dissemination and the Export Development Bank of Iran (EDBI) will convene the first conference on e-money in Iran next month.
Bundesbank's Weber to discuss deficit with Eichel
Bundesbank President Axel Weber said he will meet with German Finance Minister Hans Eichel on Friday to discuss ways to avoid violating European Union budget rules for a fourth straight year in 2005.
Liebscher slams Stability Pact spoilers
European Central Bank governing council member Klaus Liebscher said Wednesday that euro zone states must respect the terms of the Stability and Growth Pact.
IMF opens training centre in China
On Wednesday the International Monetary Fund inaugurated a training center jointly built with China in Dalian, a port city in northeast China's Liaoning Province. Attendees included Robert Mundell, the former Nobel prize winner.
China economists call for yuan basket peg
A group of leading Chinese economists, including a member of the People's Bank of China's influential monetary policy committee, has called for China to remove its long-standing yuan peg to the U.S. dollar and fix the yuan to a basket of currencies.
When Hong Kong trounced the speculators
The HKMA beat back speculators in 1998, but did its own fuzzy rules encourage them? Charles Calomiris reviews a new book on this famous episode.
Interview: Kenneth Rogoff
In this wide-ranging interview, the former chief economist of the IMF discusses the likely fallout from the unsustainable US deficits, the dollar's hegemony, the Fund's failings, the weak spots in the global economy and the future of central banks.
Interview: Leszek Balcerowicz
In conversation with the editor, the president of the National Bank of Poland explains why he believes in taking the shortest route possible to the euro.
The Three Baltic states
President Kraft of the Bank of Estonia, Governor Rimsevics of the Bank of Latvia and Governor Sarkinas of the Bank of Lithuania, outline their countries preparations for joining the euro.
Interview: Christodoulos Christodoulou
Cyprus is ready to be one of the first accession countries to join the euro, says governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus.
Convergence report
Wayward deficits in the larger economies have forced a retreat from earlier dates for joining the euro. Analysis of central bank strategies, speeches and statistics suggest that Slovenia, Cyprus and the Baltic states will vie to be the first in.
Substance and semantics in ERM II
In the February issue, Peter Kenen and Ellen Meade discussed the Maastricht treaty's convergence criteria and their application to the accession countries. Here, they look more closely at the key role of the exchange rate criterion.
A toolkit for financial stability
Monetary union does not insulate against financial crisis, says Max Watson. Accession countries must continue to watch - and - report - imbalances in the economy.
Seven rules of foreign exchange
Economic fundamentals hold in the long run, but what drives currency markets in the short run? In this personal view, Avinash Persaud finds clues in watching what central banks say, and what they do.
A Bretton Woods that never was
Richard Roberts recalls the last official effort to create a coherent design for an international monetary system.
Third ECB central banking conference dates
The European Central Bank announced on Monday 24 May that it will hold its 3rd Central Banking Conference on 21st and 22nd October 2004 in Frankfurt, on "The New EU member states: convergence and stability".