News
Bank of Finland to cease Baltic monitoring
The Bank of Finland will end its monitoring of the Baltic states from next year, the Baltic News Service reports. The bank said the states have in a way reached a watershed and at a certain point the transition is regarded as complete.
Brazil's central bank head of economics resigns
The head of economic policy at Brazil's central bank, Ilan Goldfajn, resigned on Thursday 22 May, according to Associated Press, but denied the decision had anything to do with criticism the bank received at not cutting interest rates earlier in the week.
ECB statements boost rate cut chances
Euro-zone central bankers gave what looked like strong hints on Friday 23 May for an ECB interest rate reduction in June, according to Reuters. The surging value of the euro which went through its launch level on Friday and data showing inflation…
Security fears keep IMF, World Bank out of Iraq
Speaking on Thursday 22 May, officials from the IMF and World Bank said they had not yet sent teams to Iraq as security concerns remain, according to Reuters. Teams are currently based in Jordan but aren't quite ready to move into Iraq, the World Bank…
Dallas Fed official says deflation risk has risen
The top monetary policy advisor to the Dallas Fed president has said he and Robert McTeer agreed that the probability of deflation was "about one in four, or 25 percent", according to a report by Reuters.
RBA says it did its homework on credit cards
As the court action continues in Australia over the RBA's introduction of credit card reforms, the Sydney Morning Herald reports that the Reserve Bank's counsel has accused counsel for Visa and MasterCard of drawing selectively from documents in putting…
Olson says deflation possibility very low
Federal Reserve Governor Mark Olson said on Thursday 22 May thatthe Fed will continue to monitor the deflation situation very carefully "because we've seen the way deflation has hampered Japan's recovery".
Ex-central banker Fraga takes wheel of a cab
Former president of the central bank of Brazil Arminio Fraga has recently appeared on Brazilian television in a comedy sketch playing a taxi driver who likes to voice his opinions on the economy, according to a Bloomberg report
Philippines central bank reviews inflation target
The governor of the Philippines central bank, Rafael Buenaventura, said on Thursday that the inflation target may be revised down as previous concerns such as high oil prices no longer existed, according to Reuters.
Japan on brink of crisis, warns central banker
Speaking to parliament on Wednesday 21 May, Bank of Japan governor Toshihiko Fukui said Japan faces a situation where a so-called financial crisis could be triggered at any time, according to a report by Sapa-AFP.
Reserve Bank of Australia "rushed" card reforms
Australia's Federal Court heard Thursday that the Reserve Bank had rushed through reforms of the Australian credit-card market because an ACCC price-fixing action against National Australia Bank was about to fail, according to a report in The Age.
Bundesbank chief wants tightening stability pact
Bundesbank president Ernst Welteke has warned that Germany should not abandon its budget consolidation efforts and called for a tightening of the European Stability and Growth Pact rules, according to a report in Deutsche Welle.
ECB rates may be too low for Denmark
An OECD study warns that Denmark's policy of shadowing the ECB's interest rates could result in inappropriate rate levels thereby creating a risk the economy will overheat, according to Reuters.
Drive for greater SEC powers
Senior Republicans on Wednesday 21 May introduced a draft bill that they said would help rebuild investor confidence and increase the powers of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Times reports.
Russia's chief banker briefs Putin on inflation
Speaking on Channel One TV in Russia, Sergey Ignatyev said the central bank must continue to strengthen banking supervision and that over a number of years, we will deliver full convertibility for the rouble.
BCCI defence costing Bank of England £1m a month
The High Court in London heard on Monday 19 May that the Bank of England is spending more than £1m a month to fight allegations that it recklessly mishandled the regulation of BCCI, according to the Financial Times.
ECB eye Hitachi micro chip to prevent note forgery
A report noted by Kyodo Newsby says the European Central Bank is looking into the idea of using integrated circuit chips in bank notes to prevent forgery.
Economic analysts dismiss threat of US 'deflation'
At its twice yearly meeting in Washington the Shadow Open Market Committee said deflation fears are unfounded and misguided, according to VOA News.
IMF urge currency flexibility for Kenya's c bank
The IMF has apparently been encouraging the central bank of Kenya to allow the exchange rate to be more flexible than it has been in the past, according to the Daily Nation.
RBNZ unveils schools monetary policy competition
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand on Wednesday May 21 launched its second Monetary Policy Challenge aimed at secondary school economics students. The competition involves teams of students becoming, in effect, central bankers. Participants will need to…
Bank of England MPC Minutes 7/8 May 2003
Minutes of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee Meeting were released on 21 May for the meeting of 7 and 8 May 2003. The minutes showed that Christopher Allsopp, Kate Barker, Marian Bell and Stephen Nickell voted for a 25 basis point rate cut…
Trade Union leader appointed to BOE's Court
UK chancellor Gordon Brown announced the appointment of the head of the Trades Union Congress, Brendan Barber, to the court of directors of the Bank of England on Wednesday.
Bank of England voted 5-4 to hold rates
Policy makers at the Bank of England voted by a narrow five to four margin to keep its lending rate unchanged at 3.75pc earlier this month, BizWorld reports. The four MPC members calling for a rate cut were all external members of the Committee.
Bosnian Presidency reappoints c. bank governor
Peter Nicholl was reappointed governor of the central bank of Bosnia-Hercegovina on Tuesday by Borislav Paravac, the Bosnian President. Nicholl agreed to stay Governor of the central bank until the end of 2004, following which current Vice-Governor…