Central Banks
Facelift for the greenback
US - Redback, pinkback, and blueback may not have quite the same ring as greenback. Nevertheless, US Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill is considering plans to replace the famously green hue of dollar notes with a rainbow of seven different colours.
Speech by T Padoa-Schioppa of the ECB, 21 Mar
SPEECH - In the speech titled 'Accession Countries on the Way to the Euro: A Central Banker's View' Padoa-Schioppa said a carefully chosen timeframe for euro adoption by new members after they join the EU would ensure that fighting inflation would not…
Federal Open Market Committee Meeting - Minutes
MINUTES - The Federal Reserve Board on Thursday released the minutes of its Federal Open Market Committee Meeting from 29-30 January 2002, released 21 March.
Reserve Bank of New Zealand News Release
NEWS RELEASE - OCR increased to 5 per cent, 20 March.
Bank of Japan Monetary Policy Meetings, 20 March
NEWS RELEASE - At the Monetary Policy Meeting held today, the Bank of Japan decided, by majority vote, to maintain the following guideline for money market operations for the intermeeting period:
HKMA Quarterly Bulletin - February 2002
REPORT - The Quarterly Bulletin (QB) carries regular reporting and analyses on the policies of the HKMA's key activities in fulfilling its central banking functions and provides a forum for the HKMA to explain its philosophy and policies, particularly…
Fed discussed dropping its tilt towards rate cuts
US - The Federal Reserve considered "unconventional" actions at its January monetary policy meeting in case its anti-recession campaign did not work and discussed abandoning its official leaning towards cutting short-term interest rates, minutes released…
Argentine peso falls as c bank gears to sell debt
ARGENTINA - Argentina's peso (ARS) opened weaker Friday as the central bank began selling money-market instruments in pesos and dollars to curb the currency's fall.
ECB net profit declines by 8.5% partly on US rates
GERMANY - The European Central Bank Thursday reported a net profit of 1.82 billion euros in 2001, down 8.5% from 1.99 billion euros the preceding year.
Rerngchai fights negligence charge
THAILAND - Former governor of the Bank of Thailand Rerngchai Marakanond yesterday submitted his defence to the Civil Court on charges that he was "severely negligent" in his duties relating to the defence of the baht, causing Bt186 billion in damage to…
Japan slump 'slowing'
JAPAN - The struggling Japanese economy is continuing to deteriorate, but the decline shows signs of slowing down, the country's central bank said on Friday.
Banks tackle RBA in new card twist
AUSTRALIA - The Australian Bankers' Association (ABA) says the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has hired a lobbyist to promote credit card reform.
Bank of England Museum Exhibition - 21 March 2002
NEWS RELEASE - Royal Portrait: A Celebration of the Queen's Golden Jubilee. A unique exhibition of portraits of the Queen is to be shown at the Bank of England Museum in Bartholomew Lane, EC2.
Bank of Canada - Annual Report 2001
ANNUAL REPORT - The Bank of Canada has published its Annual Report for the year 2001, 20 March.
Speech by Susan Schmidt Bies of the Fed, 21 Mar
SPEECH - In the speech titled 'Current Challenges of Community Banks' Bies stressed to bankers the need for effective management oversight by bank directors, especially in the wake of the spectacular collapse of energy-trading giant Enron.
Federal Reserve Board Press Release
PRESS RELEASE - The Federal Reserve Board on Thursday announced the publication of a guide to help consumers better understand their rights and responsibilities with regard to electronic check conversion transactions.
Spain's Rato sees two candidates to replace Noyer
SPAIN - Spanish Economy Minister Rodrigo Rato said on Thursday that there were only two candidates to replace European Central Bank vice-president Christian Noyer, and it seemed unlikely more would come forward.
The increasingly transparent Greenspan fed
FEATURE - Tuesday's decision by the Federal Open Market Committee that it would announce the roll call of the vote on the federal funds rate target, including the policy choice of any dissenters after each meeting, was the latest veil in its legendary…
India RBI favour forming gold exchange - Dep gov
INDIA - The Reserve Bank of India will favor any industry proposal to form a gold exchange as the idea is "theoretically sound," said RBI Deputy Governor Y.V. Reddy Thursday.
Korea's central bank upbeat on growth
SOUTH KOREA - South Korea's central bank has raised its forecast for economic growth in 2002 after a robust performance in the October to December period last year.
Argentina props up ailing peso
ARGENTINA - Argentina's Central Bank is thought to have intervened in the currency markets to support the ailing peso.
Swiss nat bank sells 9.4 tons of gold to 20 March
SWITZERLAND - The Swiss National Bank sold around 9.4 metric tons of gold in its latest 10-day reporting period ended 20 March, the central bank's regular statistics report showed Thursday.
Russia's new central bank chief
FEATURE - Promising little change to exchange-rate policy but progress on stalled banking change, Sergei Ignatyev was overwhelmingly elected Russia's Central Bank chief Wednesday by the lower house of parliament.
Bank of Japan leaves monetary policy unchanged
JAPAN - The Bank of Japan left monetary policy unchanged on Wednesday but said that if necessary it would provide extra liquidity to secure financial market stability towards the end of the fiscal year.