Central Banks
Brazil raises interest rates by 3 points to 25%
Brazil's central bank on Wednesday increased its key interest rate by 3 percentage points to 25 per cent in an effort to crush growing inflation as the government-elect pledged to press ahead with central bank reforms and austerity measures. It is the…
Brazil's Lula to keep monetary policy team for now
Brazil's incoming central bank chief Henrique Meirelles said on Thursday the government of President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will avoid making drastic changes to the country's monetary policy team.
Sweden decides on wording of euro question
Sweden has announced the wording of the question to be put in a referendum next year on whether to adopt the euro. The question is "Do you think that Sweden should introduce the euro as its currency?"
SARB appoints Ian Plenderleith as deputy governor
The South African Reserve Bank said Thursday that it has appointed Ian Plenderleith as a deputy governor with effect from 1 January 2003. Until May 2002 this year Plenderleith was a member of the Bank of England's interest rate setting Monetary Policy…
ECB's Liebscher: Rates appropriate, econ improving
Austrian National Bank Governor and European Central Bank governing council member Klaus Liebscher said interest rates are appropriate for the medium term, although they could still be lowered if need be. In an interview he also defended the ECB's two…
Bank of Japan Monthly Report, December 2002
REPORT - The Bank of Japan published its Monthly Report of Recent Economic and Financial Developments, December 2002, on 19 December. In its report the Bank says "Japan's economy has stabilised as a whole, but there is still substantial uncertainty…
Chicago Fed National Activity Index, November 2002
REPORT - CFNAI shows economic growth remains soft in November - In November, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) remained below zero for a fourth consecutive month, coming in at -0.51. The three-month moving average index, CFNAI-MA3, was at …
Bank of England Inflation Attitudes Survey, Nov 02
REPORT - The Bank of England's November 2002 quarterly Inflation Attitudes Survey was published on 16 December. The survey measures public attitudes to inflation in the UK. The latest survey shows 56% of respondents think the 2.5% inflation target is…
Bank of England Press Release
PRESS RELEASE - Sale of Bank of England Banknote Printing Operations, 17 December.
Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee Minutes
MINUTES - Minutes of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee Meeting released on 18 December for the meeting of 4 and 5 December 2002. The nine MPC members voted on a proposal to maintain the repo rate at 4.0%. Seven voted in favour of this with…
Chicago Fed's Economic Outlook Symposium
REPORT - Economic growth in 2003 will be slightly above the rate in 2002, while the unemployment rate will be unchanged and inflation will be higher next year, according to the median forecast of participants at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's…
Crockett - Institutions for stability
SPEECH - In the speech 'Institutions for stability - current and past experience' Andrew Crockett of the BIS said the nature of international financial crises has been changing over time. Nowadays the most troublesome issues occur when a crisis of…
Gov't man gains control of Russian central bank
First Deputy Prime Minister / Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin has become the head of the National Banking Council - the Russian central bank's advisory board. The appointment is likely to give the government increased influence over the activities of the…
Kuchma sacks Ukraine's central bank chairman
Meeting at an undisclosed location, President Leonid Kuchma's supporters voted to replace the chairman of the central bank Volodymyr Stelmakh and 19 parliamentary committees on Tuesday. The past couple of weeks have seen several attempts to oust Stelmakh…
Brazil central bank nominee heads for hearings
Henrique Meirelles, nominated to be Brazil's next central bank president, on Tuesday goes before Congress for confirmation hearings. He is expected to face tough questioning on monetary policy but ultimately be approved for the job, analysts said.
Turkish cen bank ready for US operation on Iraq
Turkey's central bank governor Sureyya Serdengecti said Tuesday that the central bank was fully prepared for the possible economic fallout of a United States operation against Iraq.
Uproar over Bank vote halts Ukraine parl't
Angry scenes in Ukraine's parliament forced the chamber to adjourn Wednesday as furious opposition members denounced a vote appointing a central bank governor favoured by President Leonid Kuchma to replace Volodymyr Stelmakh.
Trichet trial will not face delay - starts January
A French prosecutor has chosen not to seek new inquiries into the Credit Lyonnais case, averting the risk of a delayed trial for Jean-Claude Trichet that could have spoiled plans to make him European Central Bank chief next July, a lawyer said on…
Bank of Japan says recovery not expected soon
The Bank of Japan Wednesday left its core economic assessment for December unchanged from November in its December monthly report, repeating that Japan's economy has bottomed but there is strong uncertainty over the economy's future course.
Solans on EMU macroeconomic stability and growth
SPEECH - In the speech 'Macroeconomic stability and growth in the European Monetary Union' Eugenio Domingo Solans of the ECB defended the ECB's 'two pillars' saying that having a flexible and all-encompassing monetary policy strategy like the Eurosystem,…
Reserve Bank of New Zealand Press Release
PRESS RELEASE - New RBNZ senior manager to be sought, 13 December.
Reserve Bank of New Zealand Bulletin, December 02
REPORT - The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has published its quarterly Bulletin for December 2002. The December issue contains three articles on a range of topics reflecting the Reserve Bank's responsibilities. In "The Reserve Bank's forecasting…
The Region from the Minneapolis Fed December 2002
PUBLICATION - The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis has published its regular magazine, The Region, for December 2002. This issue includes an interview with the first deputy managing director of the IMF Anne O Krueger who discusses currency boards, the…
UK inflation rate hits four-year high of 2.8%
UK inflation jumped in November to its highest level in more than four years. In its recent inflation report the Bank of England said that the rate was likely to rise in the short term but fall back towards the 2.5 per cent target at the end of 2003.