News
South Korea to continue currency intervention
South Korea's minister of finance and economy on Thursday 19 May denied a news report that the government has decided not to intervene in currency markets.
Malaysia to maintain currency peg
Malaysia will maintain its seven-year-old currency peg to the US dollar and has no plans to impose measures to curb the flow of speculative funds into the economy, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Thursday 19 May.
Hong Kong loosens its dollar's 22-year peg
Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief Joseph Yam said on Thursday 19 May that a decision to loosen the Hong Kong dollar's 22-year peg to the US dollar won't encourage banks to raise interest rates sharply and hurt businesses.
Minutes from the Sveriges Riksbank Meeting, 28 Apr
The Sveriges Riksbank published the minutes from its 28 April Executive Board meeting on 17 May. A member emphasised that growth in the world economy was still high, but said that it had become more unevenly distributed and that the performance seemed…
Bank of England voted 8-1 to hold rates in May
The Bank of England's minutes from its May Monetary Policy Committee meeting released on Wednesday 18 May revealed policy makers voted 8- 1 to keep interest rates unchanged in May with Paul Tucker rejoining the majority, dropping his call for an increase.
RBI plans risk management panel
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it is looking at setting up a separate committee to study and strengthen the operational risk management of banks, as part of the overall implementation of the Basel-II norms.
BOJ's Muto says policy to remain
The Bank of Japan is committed to keeping the policy of holding interest rates at almost zero and pumping cash into the economy until deflation is over, Toshiro Muto, one of the Bank of Japan's two deputy governors said on Tuesday 17 May.
PBOC chief sees room for debt market expansion
China has considerable room to expand its debt market, People's Bank of China chief Zhou Xiaochuan said.
Portugal's Constancio sees 'difficult' steps ahead
Portugal's central bank governor has called for ``new and difficult'' steps to prevent the budget deficit from soaring back above European limits.
Japan's Tanigaki sees economy on steady recovery
Japanese Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said on Tuesday 17 May that he sees the world's second largest economy as steady on a recovery track as indicated by January-March gross domestic product data.
Kohn says Fed likely to keep upping rates
The Federal Reserve is likely to keep raising interest rates at a gradual pace, according to a senior Fed official.
China peg pressure unhelpful - PM Wen
China's prime minister Wen Jiabao rejected foreign pressure to reform the pegged currency system, telling a visiting US delegation on Monday 16 May that any policy change was a "sovereign" issue for China which would be resolved at its own discression.
BOK sees no shift on yuan rate for now
The Bank of Korea (BOK) said on Tuesday 17 May that China is unlikely to revalue the yuan against the US dollar anytime soon, as its economy depends largely on exports to boost growth.
Central banks become net dollar sellers
The world's central banks have become net sellers of US dollar-denominated assets for the first time in more than two years.
IMF and Philippines central bank host seminar
A seminar on capital market reform and government bond market development in the Philippines was held on May 10, 2005 in Manila. The seminar was hosted jointly by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the International Monetary Fund.
Trichet says rates support growth, convergence
European Central Bank President Jean Claude Trichet said that lending rates at a six-decade low are ``appropriate'' and rejected finance ministers' concerns about economic divergences in the eurozone.
Ex BOJ official says may need policy shift
A former deputy governor of the Bank of Japan has said the bank should consider changing its policy of pumping cash into the economy and holding rates at almost zero because deflation is easing.
Central bankers begin Bulgarian conference
The National Bank of Bulgaria is hosting the Third annual conference of the central banks of the Balkan states on 16 and 17 May.
Snow repeats call for action on China peg
U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow on Friday 13 May renewed pressure on China to let its currency trade freely, saying the United States has made clear it wants Beijing to move to a flexible exchange rate soon.
Venezuela's Chavez considers vote on reserves use
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez said on Saturday 14 May he may decide to call a referendum on whether the country should be able to use part of its international exchange reserves for projects to help the poor.
Iceland re-appoints central bank chief
The Prime Minister of Iceland has re-appointed Eirikur Gunason as Governor of the central bank for a term of seven years which began on 1 May.
PBOC's Zhou Xiaochuan on exchange rate reform
In a recently published interview Zhou Xiaochuan, Governor of the People's Bank of China, said we will make active and steady efforts to push ahead with the reform of the RMB exchange rate regime on a well-planned and step-by-step basis.
NY Fed's Geithner appointed CPSS Chairman
The Governors of the central banks of the G10 countries have appointed Timothy F Geithner as Chairman of the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) with effect from June 2005.
Parliamentary speaker nominated Estonia bank chief
The supervisory council of the Bank of Estonia on Tuesday 10 May nominated deputy parliamentary speaker Andres Lipstok as the new president of the Baltic country's central bank.