News
Korea cuts for second time in a fortnight
Bank of Korea chopped a quarter-point off its key rate on Friday on signs of a further weakening in domestic economic activity.
IMF sees advanced economies contracting in 2009
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday revised downwards its estimate for global growth next year by four-fifths of a percentage point to 2.2% and said it believes the advanced economies will contract over 2009.
Bank shocks with steepest cut for 24 years
The Bank of England on Thursday lopped one-and-a-half basis points off its benchmark rate for the first time since August 1984, confounding expectations of a far less severe move.
Markets obey laws of nature not math: NBB's Praet
The "once in a century" credit crisis demands a fundamental re-think in the way we view, and regulate, financial systems, Peter Praet, an executive director at the National Bank of Belgium and a member of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, has…
Czechs surprise with 75 basis-point cut
The Czech National Bank slashed its key rate by 75 basis points to 2.75% on Thursday on signs inflation risked falling below target next year.
ECB, SNB cut by 50 basis points
The European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday lopped a quarter point off its key rate and indicated further cuts were likely. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) also cut the upper and lower bounds by the same margin.
BoJ head hints at bubble-bursting role for rates
Masaaki Shirakawa, the governor of the Bank of Japan, has indicated that monetary policy should act on asset-price bubbles.
Bank to cut by 100 basis points?
The Bank of England will likely cut rates by a full percentage point on Thursday, some leading City of London economists believe.
Fed acts to enforce benchmark target
The Federal Reserve has moved to correct the disparity between its federal funds target and actual rates by raising the amount of interest paid on excess reserves held at the central bank.
Dollar Libor spreads plummet to pre-Lehman levels
Money-market tensions showed further signs of easing on Wednesday, with the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) for three-month dollar loans plunging 20 basis points to 2.51%.
NY Fed hires Bear Stearns' risk-management head
The chief risk officer at Bear Stearns, the now-defunct investment bank, has joined the New York Federal Reserve to advise on bank supervision.
Korea asks China for dollar-swap deal
The Bank of Korea on Tuesday confirmed that it had asked the People's Bank of China for a dollar-swap line after reports emerged on the proposed facility.
SARB "distinctly dovish" in latest policy review
South African Reserve Bank on Tuesday adopted a dovish tone in its latest Monetary Policy Review, saying inflation was likely to fall sharply towards the 3%-6% target range in the new year.
RBA slashes rates to five-year low
The Reserve Bank of Australia on Tuesday shocked markets with a sharper-than-expected rate cut of 75 basis points.
US banks clamp down on loan standards
American businesses are facing ever-more stringent loan conditions from most US lenders tightening standards on the back of the poor economic outlook, Federal Reserve data indicates.
Bank of Canada restructures to enhance stability
The Bank of Canada on Monday reorganised its senior management structure to better safeguard stability and improve its research capability.
EU says eurozone in recession
A European Central Bank (ECB) rate cut on Thursday - already a strong possibility - now looks a near certainty after the European Commission said the eurozone was likely in recession and predicted the economy would stagnate in the coming years.
Ex-PBoC deputy questions policy after Beijing cut
Wu Xiaoling, a former deputy governor at the People's Bank of China, has said the central bank should not loosen monetary policy further after the institution cut rates and relaxed loan conditions last week.
India acts on stability fears
The Reserve Bank of India has cut rates for the second time in a fortnight and introduced a raft of liquidity measures to shore up financial stability.
Oil price plunge prompts Iraqi cut
The Central Bank of Iraq has cut its benchmark rate by a full percentage point to 15% days after the governor warned that the dismal global outlook and the slump in oil prices could drag the country into recession.
We will need counter-cyclical rules: King
Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, indicated on Monday that Britain could push ahead in implementing its own counter-cyclical capital requirements to prevent another subprime debacle.
Bank of Japan split on rate cut
Bank of Japan policymakers were divided in making the first cut in more than seven years on Friday. The central bank lowered its overnight lending rate from 0.5% to 0.3% due to a "severe" adjustment in the world economy.
Banks' social role key to new rules: ex-FSA head
The revision of the social contract between banks and government should be central to the debate about how to legislate against future crises, Britain's former chief regulator has said.
Interbank rates improve
Beyond the gyrations of the stock markets, there were continued signs that conditions in the interbank markets were on the mend.