News
Former RBI head proposed for slot on board
INDIA - Former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Mr S. Venkitaramanan's name has been proposed for appointment as a director of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) at the ensuing annual general meeting (AGM) of the company.
ECB source not aware of Duisenberg G7 rate comment
UK - A European Central Bank (ECB) source told Reuters on Thursday that he was not aware of ECB President Win Duisenberg's having told international financial leaders the central bank was ready to cut interest rates.
EU's Prodi calls deficit reduction accord 'stupid'
FRANCE - European Commission President Romano Prodi called Europe's budget-deficit limits "stupid" and "rigid," sowing fresh divisions over how to save the European economy from recession.
Malta 'will have the euro once conditions are met'
MALTA - The Minister for Economic Services Josef Bonnici said Malta stands to benefit from the adoption of the single European currency, the euro, and that Malta will join the Eurozone once the conditions are met.
Fed member warns on inside analysis
US - Evaluations of public policy should be handled independently of the agency responsible for the policy, a member of the Federal Reserve Board said Wednesday at Western Michigan University.
Greece's Garganas hosts central bankers at club
GREECE - Bank of Greece Governor Nicholas Garganas is chairing a session of the Central Bank Governors' Club - which includes his counterparts of 16 Balkan, Black Sea and Central Asian nations - in the seaside resort of Nafplion on Friday.
Afghan c bank clarifies operations on new currency
AFGHANISTAN - Administrative Vice President of Afghan National Bank, Ghulam Ghouse Hadawi pledged on Wednesday that all old Afghani notes would be exchanged in the end despite mass complains about the slow distribution of the new currency.
Brazil's markets slide as c bank warns of turmoil
BRAZIL - Brazil's battered financial markets fell sharply on Wednesday as the Central Bank warned that the country's imminent government transition would be more turbulent than expected.
Inflation target an option but not now - Hayami
JAPAN - Bank of Japan Governor Masaru Hayami said on Wednesday that the central bank may consider an inflation-targeting policy in the future but not at the moment as Japanese prices continue to fall.
CBN chief speaks on ways to support WAMZ
NIGERIA - As part of plans towards the establishment of a common currency in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sub-region under one central bank next year, the director of research at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. O.J…
GCC seeks EU help in monetary union
SAUDI ARABIA - The GCC states have finally acknowledged difficulties besetting their most ambitious plan to merge their currencies and decided to resort to their main economic partner - the European Union - to guide them through the minefield towards the…
BOT chief downplays concern over weakening of baht
THAILAND - Bank of Thailand's Governor Pridiyathorn Devakula has downplayed mounting concern over the weakening of the baht against the US dollar, saying it would be a temporary phenomenon.
Fed's Stern sees steady growth for near term
US - Gary Stern, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, sees the economy growing at a relatively firm rate in coming months before growth accelerates in the second half of 2003.
US interest rate level not a problem - Fed's Guynn
US - Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Jack Guynn said on Tuesday U.S. interest rate levels were not hindering business or consumer spending, suggesting he sees little need for lower rates.
Fed 'lacks knowledge and tools' to burst bubbles
US - The Federal Reserve lacks the knowledge, foresight or precision tools it would need to pre-empt a stock market bubble, a senior Fed official said yesterday, and any attempt to do so would risk "severe collateral damage to the economy".
Tokyo urged to improve corporate governance
JAPAN - Japan's banks will never recover their health unless they undergo a drastic improvement in corporate governance similar to that imposed on South Korean financial institutions after the 1997 financial crisis, according to a Standard & Poor's…
Bank of Canada Press Release
PRESS RELEASE - Bank of Canada keeps target for the overnight rate at 2 3/4 per cent, 16 October.
Egypt, Russia sign banking cooperation agreement
EGYPT - The Central Bank of Egypt and the Central Bank of Russia today, 16 October, signed an agreement on promoting cooperation in banking domains between the two nations.
Russian c bank - For ex reserves growth too fast
RUSSIA - Russian Central Bank President Sergey Ignatyev has said that the country's gold and foreign exchange reserves are now close to a level that meets all conceivable criteria. He was speaking at a full-scale meeting of the State Duma (lower house)…
Ex-Fed chief steps into US audit watchdog row
US - Paul Volcker, the highly respected former chairman of the Federal Reserve, has stepped into the debate over the new US accountancy regulator, backing a candidate at the centre of a political storm endangering the career of Harvey Pitt, chairman of…
Bank defends its position on interest rates
UK - Members of the Bank of England's rate-setting body on Monday defended it against criticism that it has not done enough to prevent escalating house prices in Britain.
Brazil central bank raises interest rates to 21%
BRAZIL - Brazil's central bank yesterday sought to stave off a growing financial crisis by raising overnight interest rates by 3 percentage points to 21 per cent. The increase followed renewed pressure on the Real, the country's currency, before a likely…
CSME no further behind than other trading blocs
BARBADOS - Prime Minister of Barbados Owen Arthur, in delivering the feature address at the opening of the Implementation Unit at the Central Bank on Monday, said CARICOM's Single Market and Economy (CSME) was now at the same point as Europe in 1985 when…
ECB rate cut not ruled out: Belgian board
BELGIUM - Belgian national bank chief Guy Quaden, a member of the European Central Bank board, declined Tuesday to rule out an ECB interest rate cut.