Central Banks
Banks gets electronic clearing system
UGANDA - The Uganda Banker's Association (UBA) and Bank of Uganda have introduced an electronic cheque clearing system, to replace the manual system, a statement from the bankers has said.
Malaysian central bank's reserves at US$32.5 bn
MALAYSIA - Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) said its international reserves stood at RM123.5 billion (US$32.5 billion) as at April 15 2002, which is sufficient to finance 5.5 months of retained imports.
Eurozone interest rates left unchanged
EUROPE - Interest rates in the 12-nation eurozone have been kept on hold as expected at a regular ECB meeting held Thursday.
St Louis Fed official on guard for inflation
US - St. Louis Federal Reserve President William Poole on Thursday warned that policymakers must be on guard and said low and stable inflation was key to keeping the current U.S. economic expansion strong and long-lasting.
Dollar slides after O'Neill testimony
US - Pessimism about the strength of the US recovery sent the dollar to its weakest level for six months against the euro and for two months against the yen on Thursday.
Turkish c bank says it meets IMF monetary targets
TURKEY - Turkey's Central Bank said on Wednesday it had met monetary targets for March and April agreed under a $16 billion IMF lending package tasked with slashing inflation and raising growth.
Flag protest
NETHERLANDS - The wife of the President of the European Central Bank hung a Palestinian flag from a second-floor balcony of their home here in protest against Israel's actions in the West Bank. Wim Duisenberg refused to comment on the stance taken by…
Leading credit ratings agencies under fire
JAPAN - Japan's Ministry of Finance has taken aim at the world's leading credit ratings agencies - Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch - in a strongly worded letter that accuses them of lacking objectivity and calls into question the reliability of…
ECB Press Conference
PRESS CONFERENCE - Introductory statement by Willem F. Duisenberg, President of the European Central Bank, Christian Noyer, Vice-President of the European Central Bank, Frankfurt am Main, 2 May.
Speech by M Moskow, President, Chicago Fed, 1 May
SPEECH - In a speech titled 'The Impact of Open Markets and Expanded Trade on Economic Development' Moskow said that whilst some were opposed to free trade he would continue to believe that openness is essential to long-term prosperity in both the…
Speech by Fed Reserve Governor Mark Olson, 30 Apr
SPEECH - In a speech made Tuesday titled 'Risk Management in a Changing Economic Environment' Olson said banks need to do more to clarify the risks they are taking, and regulators must begin to more closely scrutinize firms' internal audits.
Speech by David Dodge of Bank of Canada, 30 Apr
SPEECH - In a speech made Tuesday, Dodge, justifying the Canadian central bank's hiking interest rates before the U.S. Federal Reserve, said that the Canadian economy was closer to full capacity than that of the United States.
Bank of Japan Press Release
PRESS RELEASE - Monetary Policy Meeting, 30 April.
Outlook and Risk Assessment, Economy and Prices
REPORT - Outlook and Risk Assessment of the Economy and Prices, April 2002 as determined by the Policy Board at the Monetary Policy Meeting held on 30 April 2002 by the Bank of Japan.
Central bank intervention and market expectations
RESEARCH - BIS Papers No. 10 by Gabriele Galati and Will Melick, April 2002.
Olson isn't saying what banks want to hear
FEATURE - Bankers' hopes were high in December when Mark W. Olson was sworn in as a member of the Federal Reserve Board but the American Banker reports, 1 May, that Mr Olson has provided the banking industry with nothing but tough love.
Frenkel accused of claiming funds not due him
ISRAEL - Israel's state audit office said on Monday former Bank of Israel Governor Jacob Frenkel, who stepped down in 2000 after nine years in office, had claimed thousands of dollars not due to him. A spokesman for Frenkel in Tel Aviv dismissed all the…
Brash walks into storm over interest rates
NEW ZEALAND - It did not take the New Zealand opposition's latest recruit - former New Zealand Reserve Bank governor Don Brash - long to learn that the rough and tumble of politics is a different world from the rarefied atmosphere of monetary policy…
Transcript of interview with Ernst Welteke
FEATURE - The FT spoke to Ernst Welteke, president of the Deutsche Bundesbank, on his visit to London on Monday 28 April. The interview was published on Wednesday and here we reproduce it in its entirety. He was sceptical about plans to publish the…
Mexico shows signs of end to recession
MEXICO - The Bank of Mexico on Tuesday raised its forecast for the country's gross domestic product growth this year to 1.8 per cent from 1.5 per cent, apparently confirming predictions that the economy is starting to follow the US out of recession.
Bush expected to name Fed nominees - Report
USA - U.S. President George W. Bush is expected to nominate Princeton economist Ben Bernanke and Federal Reserve official Donald Kohn to the central bank's board, sources apparently told Reuters on Tuesday. A White House spokeswoman on Tuesday declined…
China's c bank steps up supervision on e-banking
CHINA - The People's Bank of China is requiring both local and foreign commercial banks to provide quarterly reports on their online banking operations in China, a PBOC notice issued on 23 April said.
Bank of Estonia's profit smaller than last year
ESTONIA - President of the Bank of Estonia Vahur Kraft has said that last year the central bank earned an extraordinarily high profit on its foreign currency reserves, but this year would be much more modest in that respect.
European Central Bank Working Paper
RESEARCH - On currency crises and contagion ECB Working Paper No. 139, by Marcel Fratzscher, April 2002.