Central Banks
Venezuela 'declares war' on speculators
VENEZUELA - Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez has declared a "war on speculators" as prices rose after last week's currency devaluation.
IMF urged to help Argentina
ARGENTINA - The South American trade bloc, Mercosur, has appealed to international lenders to do more to help Argentina as it draws up a plan to rescue the economy.
BoE's George plays down talk of jump in UK rates
UK - Bank of England Governor Sir Edward George warned financial markets on Tuesday they should not get too carried away with the idea that British interest rates are set to rise sharply this year.
Asian economies on the mend
ASIA - While many of Asia's economies are stagnating or deep in recession, anecdotal evidence emerges from Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea and Australia that a recovery could be under way.
Armenia's central bank sends open letter to papers
ARMENIA - Chairman of Armenia's Central Bank Tigran Sargsyan sent an open letter to the editors-in-chief of the Aravot and Haykakan Zhamanak Armenian dailies.
ECB Working Paper Series
RESEARCH - Performance of monetary policy with internal central bank forecasting, by Seppo Honkapohja and Kaushik Mitra, February 2002, ECB Working Paper No. 127.
Debt relief urged for poorest seven countries
UK - Aid donor countries are to meet in London later this week to consider possible new financial support - including foreign debt relief - for the seven poorest countries of the former Soviet Union.
Speech by Glenn Stevens of the RBA, 18 Feb
SPEECH - In the speech titled 'The Economic Outlook in 2002' Stevens said economic prospects were "pretty good", although there could be a weak patch during 2002.
RBA says Australia's prospects pretty good
AUSTRALIA - The Reserve Bank of Australia said on Monday there were good reasons to be confident about the domestic economy over 2002, but warned that Japan remained the biggest risk to a global recovery.
Speech by J.C. Trichet of Banque de France, 12 Feb
SPEECH - In the speech titled 'The Euro and the Monetary Union' Bank of France Governor Jean-Claude Trichet said there were signs that the European and United States economies were bottoming out after their recent slump. "As regards the present situation…
Argentine Senator revises history
FEATURE - At a conference in London this week, Dr Rodolfo Terragno, a member of the Argentine Senate, set out to refute what he termed as the "fairy tale" version of events that shroud Argentina's experience over the past decade. He wanted to expunge any…
Central bank intervention and foreign ex rates
RESEARCH - Michel Beine, Agnes Benassy-Quere, Christelle Lecourt, Central bank intervention and foreign exchange rates: new evidence from FIGARCH estimations from the Journal Of International Money And Finance, Volume 21, Issue 1, 01-February-2002.
BOK to introduce cyber credit card in October
SOUTH KOREA - The Bank of Korea (BOK) is moving to introduce an online cyber credit card which will be available in October this year.
Bush gaffe hits yen
US - A remark by US President George W Bush about "devaluation" in Japan has caused confusion in the currency markets.
Bangladesh talks with IMF fail
BANGLADESH - Negotiations between Bangladesh and the International Monetary Fund for an emergency balance of payments loan have failed.
France bids tearless farewell to franc
FEATURE - After 650 years of history, the franc disappears this weekend with about as much ceremony as the muttered address at the funeral of a forgotten relative.
Venezuela c bank to start dollar auctions Monday
VENEZUELA - The Venezuelan Central Bank will start Monday with a daily auction of U.S. dollars to the currency market to guarantee supplies of dollars while the bolivar adapts to a new free-floating exchange system.
Crucial factors for online banking
MALAYSIA - In order to provide Internet or online banking, banks operating in Malaysia are required by Bank Negara (BNM) to employ the services of a well mandated or a trusted security system.
Speech by Eva Srejber of Sveriges Riksbank, 13 Feb
SPEECH - In the speech titled 'A reunited Europe - the roles played by Sweden and the Riksbank' Srejber said "When the Riksbank makes its inflation forecasts, central and eastern Europe will move gradually from being a brief footnote to becoming an…
Speech by David Dodge of Bank of Canada, 31 Jan
SPEECH - In the speech Dodge said "Movements in the Canada-U.S. exchange rate do not yet appear to have reflected the recent developments in our economy. And to the extent that the recent depreciation of the Canadian dollar risks affecting consumer and…
Speech by Jurgen Stark of the Bundesbank, 13 Feb
SPEECH - The speech was given on the presentation of the report "IT innovations and financing patterns: Implications for the financial system". The report was prepared by a Working Group of the Committee on the Global Financial System (CGFS) composed of…
ECB Working Papers Series
RESEARCH - Performance of monetary policy with internal central bank forecasting, by Seppo Honkapohja and Kaushik Mitra, February 2002.
Townhall Meeting with IMF and World Bank leaders
MEETING - IMF Managing Director Horst Kohler and World Bank President James Wolfensohn with Civil Society Representatives Participating in the International Conference on Poverty Reduction Strategies, moderated by Warren Nyamugasira, Uganda National NGO…
IMF Press Briefing by Thomas Dawson
PRESS BRIEFING - Transcript of a Press Briefing by Thomas Dawson, Director, External Relations Department, International Monetary Fund, 13 February.