News
Electronic signatures allowed for bank payment
VIETNAM - The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) will announce regulations over the pattern and content of electronic documents to be used for payment services among banks next month, deputy governor Nguyen Van Giau said.
TFB calls for easing of credit card rules
THAILAND - TFB calls for easing of credit card rules Thai Farmers Bank Plc (TFB) is calling on the Bank of Thailand (BOT) to ease existing regulations on issuance of credit cards, Manager Daily said on 25 March.
Argentina's ex c bank chief charged with fraud
ARGENTINA - Former Economy Minister Roque Fernandez has been indicted for fraud against the public administration and his assets exceeding 70m pesos have been frozen over his alleged liability in the liquidation of the Banco Feigin, court sources have…
Monetary policy in a virtual economy, 27 March
FEATURE - The Reserve Bank launches a web-based monetary policy computer simulation game today whereby the player fights inflation by controlling interest rates in a virtual economy. You play the Governor of the central bank and failure to keep inflation…
NZ central bank launches monetary policy game
NEW ZEALAND - The Reserve Bank of New Zealand Wednesday launched a Web-based simulation game that tests players' skills at controlling consumer price inflation.
Polish MPC leaves rates steady despite pressure
POLAND - The National Bank of Poland (NBP) defied political pressure on Wednesday by leaving interest rates unchanged, matching market expectations but risking a run-in with the government over how to revive the economy, report Reuters.
European Central Bank Consultation Announcement
ANNOUNCEMENT - Consultation on electronic money systems security objectives, 19 March 2002.
BOK introduce financial asset based currency gauge
SOUTH KOREA - The central bank on Tuesday introduced more accurate measures of the nation's money supply based on financial assets, which provides an exact picture of liquidity in circulation reported The Korea Times.
IMF, World Bank mission to meet Russian c banker
RUSSIA - Officials of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank will arrive in Moscow next week to discuss the reform of Russia's banking sector with recently appointed central bank Chairman Sergei Ignatyev, a finance ministry official said Tuesday.
Dollar falls, Fed's McDonough says it's overvalued
US - The dollar slid more than half a cent against the euro and more than 2/3 of a yen Tuesday after New York Federal Reserve President William McDonough said the dollar may be "a little" overvalued.
ECB gold reserves - EUR55M
GERMANY - The Eurosystem's net reserves in gold and gold receivables declined EUR55 million to EUR126.8 billion in the week ended 22 March, the European Central Bank said Tuesday.
McTeer says U.S. Fed has time to move on policy
CZECH REPUBLIC - Robert McTeer, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, on Tuesday said the U.S. Federal Reserve has some time for policy adjustments but added that members of the rate setting FOMC remain open-minded on the issue.
U.S. late credit card payments rose in Q4
US - Late payments on credit card bills edged up in the final quarter of last year but fewer people were overdue on other types of consumer loans despite weak economic growth, a banking trade association said on Tuesday.
Another month of agony for ECB hopeful Trichet
FRANCE - Bank of France chief Jean-Claude Trichet will have to wait until the end of April to know whether French state prosecutors want him tried over a bank scandal that has hurt his hopes of becoming European Central Bank president reports Reuters.
Transparency doesn't mean full disclosure
GERMANY - Central bank transparency doesn't mean communicating the exact timing and scope of changes in monetary policy to markets, according to European Central Bank executive board member Sirkka Haemaelaeinen.
China links bank cashpoints to meet WTO challenge
CHINA - China launched an electronic network on Tuesday to link the cash machines of major banks for the first time, hoping the customer-friendly service will help Chinese banks fend off fierce foreign competition.
Central bank free to sell exchange swaps
BRAZIL - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) discloses today a memorandum revising its accord with Brazil.
Minutes of Japan's Monetary Policy Meeting
MINUTES - Bank of Japan Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes from the 7 and 8 February, released 26 March.
New governor appointed at the Bank of Korea
SOUTH KOREA - Park Seung has been appointed as the next governor of the Bank of Korea. He will take over at the beginning of April after current governor Chon Chol-hwan's four-year term ends on 31 March.
MPC over-estimates inflation threat, research says
UK - The Bank of England's monetary policy committee has consistently over-estimated the threat of higher inflation, according to research to be presented today at the Royal Economic Society's annual conference.
Poll gives full marks to swift action of Fed
US - The US economy is highly unlikely to slip back into recession, but its recovery had far more to do with lower interest rates than tax cuts, according to a survey of leading economists issued yesterday.
Argentina sets new forex controls to prop up peso
ARGENTINA - Argentina's Central Bank on Monday introduced measures to tighten controls on the foreign exchange market in an effort to stop record falls in the peso that had threatened to throw the government's economic policy into turmoil.
Wadhwani - Current high interest rate policy risky
UK - Rising household debt and the possibility of a depreciation in sterling's exchange rate aren't sufficient grounds to keep interest rates higher than necessary, said one of the Bank of England's nine interest-rate setters Monday.
S Africa c bank reiterate difference with Zimbabwe
SOUTH AFRICA - South Africa's central bank reiterated on Monday the factors that distinguished its economy from neighbouring Zimbabwe, whose woes have dented investor confidence in the region and adversely hit the rand.