Central Banks
Uganda's Mutebile warns speculators
The Governor, Bank of Uganda (BOU), Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile, has warned against speculation in the foreign exchange marke. He said BOU is going to take action against the practice, because it hurts the economy.
Nigeria cbank explains MRR rise to 14.5%
The perceived excess liquidity in the financial system, which seems to defy all solutions, has been fingered as the reason why the Minimum Rediscount Rate (MRR) was raised from 14 to 14.5 per cent last week, according to reports from the African News…
New Egypt forex peg only valid as short-term fix
Egypt's introduction of a "managed peg" for pound-dollar rates may restore exchange rate stability in the short term but will be unsustainable and counterproductive in the long term, analysts said on Jan. 29, 2001. Under the new system the central bank…
Turkey 2001 FDI 'at least' $4bn - ctrl bk governor
Foreign direct investments into Turkey this year will total "at least $4 billion," Turkish central bank governor Gazi Ercel said Jan. 29. This "very high" level of funds will come from the sale of assets including mobile phone licenses by mid-February…
Swedish cbank signals steady rates as growth slows
Euro-outsider Sweden's central bank signalled on Jan. 29, 2001, its key repo rate would remain on hold at 4.00 percent, 75 basis points below the euro zone's steering rate, at this week's monetary policy meeting. Riksbank Governor Urban Backstrom said in…
Bank of Israel cuts Feb discount rate 30bp to 7.7%
The Bank of Israel said on Jan. 29, 2001, it would lower its discount rate for February by 30 basis points to 7.7% from 8%, saying inflation would be between 1% and 2.5% in 2001. The move is at the top end of forecasts for a cut of between 20 and 30…
Slovak c.bank says no room now for rate cuts
The Slovak central bank (NBS) said its board had left interest rates unchanged at a monetary policy meeting on Jan. 29, 2001, and that potential risks to consumer price growth left no room for rate cuts at present. The bank board said it did not see…
IMF to start exploratory talks with Romanian govt
The IMF will visit Bucharest in early February to discuss with the newly elected Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase how he plans to reduce inflation, restructure state-owned industries and create a healthier financial-banking system, the daily…
Indonesia bankers still unclear on forex rules
Indonesia's foreign bankers said a meeting with central bank officials late on Jan. 29, 2001, did little to clarify foreign rules which have baffled the market for two weeks. They said the bank promised to issue a circular within the next two days…
UK's CrestCo goes electronic
London's international settlement house, CrestCo, is proposing to take the risk and cost of errors out of processing takeovers in the UK by replacing the paper form-filling with an electronic process. The proposals for Takeover Procedures in Crest,…
Thai central bank cuts 2001 growth forecast
Thailand's central bank cut its forecast for 2001 gross domestic product (GDP) growth on Jan. 29, 2001, to 3-4.5 percent from a previous projection of 4-5.5 percent, blaming a U.S. economic slowdown and a faltering domestic recovery. "The evident…
BOJ Hayami-economy moderately recovering
Bank of Japan Governor Masaru Hayami reiterated Jan. 29 that while the economy is gradually recovering, the pace of growth is slowing due to a fall off in exports. "The economy continues to moderately recover, but the tempo is easing due to a…
Taiwan will adopt loose monetary policy
Taiwan central bank governor Perng Fai-nan said on Jan. 29, 2001, the bank would adopt an "appropriately loose" monetary policy, and would consider following suit if the U.S. cuts rates at the end of the month. The central bank would also fully supply…
Bank of Canada forecasts 3 percent growth
The Bank of Canada estimates the Canadian economy will expand by 3 percent in 2001 after growing at a rate of 5 percent in 2000, Deputy Governor Sheryl Kennedy said on Jan. 29, 2001. "The Canadian economy has been performing well in recent years and we…
Egypt to value pound vs currency basket eventually
Egypt's Economy and Foreign Trade Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali said on Jan. 29 the Egyptian pound would eventually be valued against a basket of currencies, rather than the dollar as now."We are waiting to move to a basket of currencies when the time…
Sri Lankan president says rupee float was timely
President Chandrika Kumaratunga said on Jan 28, 2001, the flotation of the Sri Lankan rupee helped avert a possible economic crisis and added there would be an intervention if the currency fell too steeply. Speaking on a Sinhalese-language television…
Dutch cbank scores high in research
The 12 central banks which make up the European central banking system should compete more among themselves. And improvement of each bank's research team will increase the influence of the president of the relevant bank, according to Sylvester Eijffinger…
IMF to cut world growth forecast sharply
The deputy head of the International Monetary Fund said on Jan. 27, 2001, the IMF may cut its 2001 world growth forecast to around 3.5 percent from 4.2 percent and warned Japan had little scope to spur growth soon. Stanley Fischer, first deputy managing…
Monetary mechanism in a high inflation environment
A new discuussion paper from the Research Department of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey examines the basic features of the monetary transmission mechanism in Turkey.