News
Ex-Im Bank signs MOU with Iranian bank
IRAN - The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Ex-Im Bank) has signed a 500-million-dollar deal with the Central Bank of Iran that would facilitate trade between the two countries.
C Bank head says new ex rate system successful
EGYPT - Prime Minister Dr Atif Ubayd 12 August presided over a meeting of the ministerial economic group which reviewed conditions on the exchange rate market and made an evaluation of the first week of the new exchange rate system and providing foreign…
C Bank names another bank to manage forex reserves
BRAZIL - The Central Bank has named Credit Agricole Asset Management as one of the financial institutions that will manage part of the US$35.3 billion of the bank's foreign currency reserves.
World Bank-IMF annual meet curtailed
US - The 2001 annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which were scheduled to be held in Washington between 27 September and 3 October, have been curtailed and will now be held for just two days, 29 September and 30.
French drop hope of replacing Duisenberg
GERMANY - France is apparently abandoning its hopes of replacing Dutch European Central Bank President Wim Duisenberg with a French president in 2002, when half of his eight-year term will be up, reports Der Spiegel.
LDP Yamamoto - Won't keep axe over BOJ gov head
JAPAN - Pumping up the pressure on the Bank of Japan to ease credit further to halt deflation, a leading ruling party critic of the central bank has moved a step closer to taking the BOJ Law into his own hands.
Banks rushing to spruce up risk management
INDIA - Banks are rushing to put in place safeguards and controls to improve their risk management ability. Even as the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) draft guidelines on "risk management systems in banks" were put in October 1999, banks - especially…
Argentine contagion has not spread far says IMF
ARGENTINA - Financial distress in Argentina and Turkey has failed to spread to emerging markets in general despite a bleak outlook for investors, according to the International Monetary Fund, reports the Financial Times, London, 9 August.
World Bank optimistic on Russian reforms
RUSSIA - The World Bank's chief economist for Russia said he was cautiously optimistic about the outlook for the country, but banking reform and economic diversification were key tasks ahead.
C Bank of Brazil to cut number of market dealers
BRAZIL - The Central Bank has decided to reduce the number of its dealers (banks licensed to act for the Central Bank in the market) from 25 to 22, said bank director Sergio Goldenstein.
Japanese regulator punishes Citibank
JAPAN - The Japanese branch of Citibank, a part of Citigroup, the world's largest financial services company, has been punished by Japan's financial services agency, the country's chief financial regulator, for illegally helping clients to conceal losses.
IMF corrects its estimate of Philippine reserves
PHILIPPINES - The International Monetary Fund has acknowledged that the Philippine central bank's gross international reserves position is stronger than the fund's initial estimate, the bank said.
RBI pulls up IFCI for poor supervision
INDIA - The Reserve Bank of India has come down heavily on the Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI) for poor supervision of its loan portfolio, lack of proper asset liability management (ALM), rollover of sticky accounts and improper asset…
Slovenian Co to supply software to Bosnian c bank
BOSNIA - Slovenian computer company Aster signed a contract in the beginning of August 2001 with the Bosnian Central Bank for the implementation of accountancy and bank software.
Manila's Arroyo not pushing for currency control
PHILIPPINES - Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said on 9 August she was not pushing for currency controls but added: "Never say never."
India c bank revises CRR rules for deposits
INDIA - The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has clarified that scheduled commercial banks, excluding regional rural banks, are exempt from the minimum cash reserve ratio (CRR) requirement of three percent on inter-bank term deposits/ term borrowing…
Turkmenistan leader slams central bank chief
TURKMENISTAN - At a government meeting on 6 August, Turkmen President Saparmyrat Niyazov harshly criticized the head of the Central Bank for failing to prevent embezzlement of state funds and for using his position to promote people without merit.
IMF names head of Ukraine representation
UKRAINE - The IMF has appointed Lorenzo Filiuoli as head of the organisation's representation in Ukraine.
Argentina's int'l reserves fall another 2.2%
ARGENTINA - Argentina's international reserves fell by 2.2% between 1 August and 2, according to latest data issued by the country's central bank.
Tanzania to suspend German currency printer deal
TANZANIA - The Tanzanian government has directed the central bank to rescind its decision to award a German currency printing firm a multi-million dollar tender to print banknote for Tanzania due to a recent report of mass misprinting by the company, the…
Latvian c bank says liquidity returning to normal
LATVIA - Latvia's central bank said on 8 August that interbank liquidity was returning to normal after a months' long squeeze and it was now able to offer more funds to the market.
President of Haiti appoints new central bank board
HAITI - President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has appointed a new board of directors to head the BRH, the Bank of the Republic of Haiti.
Nigeria c bank weans banks off govt loan addiction
NIGERIA - The Nigerian central bank's drive to discourage commercial bank lending to regional and local governments should control money supply and inflation but at the expense of bank profits, bankers and analysts said.
Taiwan beefs up reserves
TAIWAN - Taiwan's foreign exchange reserves last month rose by US$983 million, month on month, to US$110.11 billion.