News
ECB to study one and two euro coin option
The European Central Bank said on Tuesday 7 October that it will consider replacing one and two euro coins with notes following calls from some eurozone countries, according to Associated Press. Bank president Wim Duisenberg has agreed, the ECB said,…
Ex-BoE governor George joins Nestle board
Former governor of the Bank of England Sir Edward George has swapped gold bars for chocolate bars after being appointed to the board of Nestle, the world's largest food and confectionary company, according to the Daily Telegraph. He follows in the wake…
Kansas City Fed's Hoenig sees solid growth ahead
Speaking on Tuesday 7 October, Kansas City Fed chief Thomas Hoenig said that the Federal Reserve's current policy stance was appropriate for an economy that needed to grow faster than its long-run sustainable pace in order to bring down the unemployment…
Australia's reserve bank holds rates steady again
The Reserve Bank of Australia held interest rates unchanged for the sixteenth month in a row on Wednesday 8 October, according to Pacific Business News. The rate remained at 4.75 per cent despite fears of a housing bubble.
HKMA intervenes to defend currency peg
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, according to Channel News Asia, has spent HK$300 million (US$40 million) defending its currency peg against speculators in the past week. Newly-appointed deputy chief William Ryback said it was comfortable with the…
Syria issues money laundering law
The Syrian President has issued a decree providing the legal framework to combat money laundering in the country, according to a report by AME Info. The law improves the legal framework of the banking system and creates a new authority affiliated to the…
Engle, Granger win Nobel prize for economics
The Nobel prize for economics, established by Sweden's central bank in 1968, was awarded to Robert Engle and Clive Granger on Wednesday 8 October, according to Associated Press, for their work on time series modelling and co-integration, where time…
Calls for notes to replace low value euro coins
European finance ministers have called for the introduction of low value euro notes instead of coins to reduce pressure on inflation, according to a report in the Financial Times. The idea is that people do not value coins highly and are therefore more…
China's PM defends currency peg
China's premier Wen Jiabao has said that China's policy of pegging the yuan to the US dollar was "based on market demand and supply and is in line with China's reality", according to a BBC report. "To keep the renminbi (yuan) stable at an appropriate and…
FATF to review Philippines' anti-money laundering
A team from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) will arrive in the Philippines later this month to review the implementation of anti-money laundering laws, Agence Presse reports. The review is part of the process of removing the country from the FATF…
Aus dollar up as RBA ponders rate rise
The Australian dollar rose sharply higher on speculation that the Reserve Bank of Australia would raise interest rates on Wednesday 8 October for the first time in 15 months, the Daily Telegraph reported. However traders dismissed the talk, saying the…
Germany's Eichel says European economy improving
German finance minister Hans Eichel has said Europe needs stability and growth, according to AFX Europe. Bank of France governor Jean-Claude Trichet said at the meeting of French and German finance ministers and central bank governors that the ECB puts…
IAIS expands core principles for insurance
The International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) has revised and expanded its Insurance Core Principles and Methodology, offering new guidance for the effective operation of supervisory systems around the world. The 28 principles cover all…
North Korea devalues currency as reforms continue
New currency exchange offices have been set up in various areas of the North Korean capital Pyongyang, according to Reuters. The offices are manned by central bank personnel, sources knowledgeable about the country said. North Korea began exchanging the…
Iraq unveils new currency
Iraq's new Saddam Hussein free currency was displayed on Saturday 4 October by Ahmed Salman Mohammed, deputy governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, according to a report by CNN. The new banknotes will go into circulation on October 15.
Qatar to enact anti-money laundering rules soon
The deputy governor of the central bank of Qatar has said that anti-money laundering laws will be issued in the near future, according to Mena FN. The Law aims to establish a legislative framework for the policies and regulations to be adopted for…
Mboweni calls for central bank independence
Speaking on Saturday 4 October, the Governor of the South African Reserve Bank Tito Mboweni said "It is absolutely important that monetary policy and the power to create money are entrusted to central banks". According to Marketplace News, he said…
ECB's Duisenberg prays for gradual dollar decline
Wim Duisenberg has said that a fall in the dollar was "unavoidable" considering the "huge" trade deficit the United States has. The outgoing ECB president said in an interview with the Financial Times: "We hope and pray that this adjustment, which is…
Study backs Greenspan's view on markets
Federal Reserve governor Ben Bernanke's speech on Thursday 2 October detailed research he has done into whether the Federal Reserve could have done more to prevent the stock market bubble of the 1990s. Bernanke told a University audience that interest…
France faces heat over budget deficit breach
Ahead of key meetings of EU finance ministers this week, the EC has signalled a willingness to move forward with the next stage in the European Union's excessive deficits procedure against France, Reuters reports. Austrian Finance Minister Karl-Heinz…
Duisenberg receives Grand Cross honour in Portugal
Decoration for Dr. Willem F. Duisenberg, President of the European Central Bank, 2 October. Duisenberg received the Grand Cross of the Order of Henry the Navigator from Jorge Sampaio, the President of Portugal.
ECB Press Conference with Questions and Answers
At the ECB's post Governing Council meeting press conference in Lisbon on Thursday 2 October Wim Duisenberg said "There is growing evidence that most countries will miss their budgetary targets for 2003 by a significant margin and, in a number of cases,…
First batch of new Iraqi dinars reach central bank
The central bank of Iraq has taken delivery of the first batch of the new Iraqi dinars, according to the Khabat newspaper. The banknotes were printed in the UK and range from 50-dinar notes to the so far unused 25,000-dinar notes.
New Bank of Estonia council decided says chairman
The Bank of Estonia's council will finish its term of office on 16 October. Central bank chairman Mart Sorg said on Wednesday 1 October that he has a list of names of people who will serve on the new council. "Under law, the old council will carry on…