News
Iraq to cut rates
The Central Bank of Iraq has announced that it will reduce its key policy rate by 1 percentage point to 14%, starting next year.
UAE creates swap lines for local banks
The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is to provide currency-swap facilities for the UAE dirham and the US dollar to local banks in a bid to inject more liquidity into the country's banking system.
BoJ considers "extraordinary steps" - Kamezaki
The Bank of Japan is considering "extraordinary steps" to counter financial-market turmoil and a deepening recession, Hidetoshi Kamezaki, a member of the central bank's policy board said last week.
China to promote freer yuan trades
Beijing will allow some trade with neighbouring countries to be settled in yuan, the Chinese currency, rather than in the dollar or the euro.
Raza nominated to replace Akhtar
Saleem Raza, a former executive at Citigroup, has been nominated as the new governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, after the unexpected resignation of Shamshad Akhtar.
Italy names first female board member
Anna Maria Tarantola, the managing director of the Bank of Italy's banking and supervision unit, will replace Antonio Finocchiaro in the new year as deputy director-general at the central bank. In doing so, she will become the first woman to sit on the…
Eurosystem continues to shed staff
The number of central bankers in the 16 national central banks that now make up the Eurosystem stands at 46,123, a fall of 17.9% since 2003, reveals the 2009 edition of Central Banking Publications' Central Bank Directory.
Crisis calls for revision of LOLR role: economists
Central banks must broaden their remit as lenders of last resort in the wake of the crisis, two economists who advise central banks have said.
Poland slashes on signs of sharp slowdown
The National Bank of Poland made its steepest cut since January 2001 on Tuesday and cautioned that the country's economy was set for a sharper-than-expected slowdown.
China bids to breathe life into ailing economy
The People's Bank of China has cut its key lending and borrowing rates for the fifth time in three months in its quest to shore up faltering growth in the world's fourth largest economy. However, the move met with disappointment from market participants,…
Gieve: we need new instruments
Sir John Gieve, the deputy governor of the Bank of England, has admitted that the Bank underestimated the scale of the credit crisis and said the turmoil has demonstrated the need to equip central banks with new policy tools.
Fed further opens lending window
The Federal Reserve has announced a new lending facility that will allow an even wider range of institutions - including hedge funds - to access loans by the central bank.
Japan steps harder on fiscal pedal
The Japanese cabinet has approved an additional $54 billion fiscal spending package to try to ease the deepening recession in the world's second largest economy.
Political turmoil in Ukraine over CB loan
Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine's prime minister, has called for the resignation of Viktor Yushchenko, the president and former head of the country's central bank, after accusing him of profiting from bets against the currency last week as the country…
Strauss-Kahn stresses need for fiscal spending
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has again called on governments to increase their spending programmes in 2009.
Paulson wants more cash as Tarp bails out Detroit
Hank Paulson, the US treasury secretary, has called for Congress to hand over the remainder of the $700 billion in taxpayer funds allocated to the Troubled Asset Relief Plan (Tarp). Paulson's pleas followed news that George W. Bush, the US president,…
Pound could sink to par with euro "within weeks"
The pound will reach parity against the euro on the back of a stream of poor news on the macro front and expectations on interest rates, market participants say.
Japan acts to ease lending strains, cuts to 0.1%
The Bank of Japan has shaved two-tenths of a percentage points off its key rate and introduced a raft of measures aimed at easing financing tensions in the run-up to the year-end, including outright purchases of commercial paper.
Turkey cuts by 125 basis points
The Central Bank of Turkey cut its key rate by 125 basis points on Thursday after the slowdown in the Turkish economy showed signs of intensifying.
Finland names acting head for new regulator
Anneli Tuominen, will become the first head of the Financial Supervisory Authority, Finland's new financial regulator.
ECB to keep one-governor, one-vote system for now
The European Central Bank's (ECB) Governing Council has gone back on the voting structure set out in its statute and opted to keep its one-governor, one-vote regime until the number of eurosystem central banks exceeds 18. The central bank also said that…
Obama picks SEC head and Fed governor
Barack Obama, the US president-elect, has named Mary Schapiro, the chief executive of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), as the new head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The president-elect also appointed Daniel Tarullo,…
Philippines cuts as World Bank pledges $200m food
The Central Bank of the Philippines lopped half a point off its key rate on Thursday as the World Bank approved a $200m loan to ensure the country's poor would have basic foodstuffs amid the growth slowdown.
Demand soars for high-value euro notes
The value of €500 ($715) notes in circulation surged past a quarter of a trillion euros in 2008 to reach €262 billion in November.