News
Former IMF chief elected German President
Former head of the International Monetary Fund, Horst Kohler, was narrowly elected Germany's new president last Sunday, 23 May.
Riksbank appoints new department heads
At its meeting on 19 May the Executive Board of the Sveriges Riksbank appointed Kai Barvell as new head of the Market Operations Department and Mats Galvenius as head of the new general secretariat.
BOE's Nickell sees further rate rises
Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member Steve Nickell said in an interview with the Times newspaper that the bank's benchmark interest rate will need to rise further.
BOJ's Suda: Start planning exit policy
The Bank of Japan's Miyako Suda said this month that the BOJ should start planning an exit from its ultra-loose policy, according to a report of her speech.
Fed says foreign central banks buying more US debt
Foreign central banks continued to be net buyers of U.S. debt in the latest week, the Federal Reserve said on Thursday 27 May, taking their total holdings to another record high.
BoC's Kennedy says oil prices lifting inflation
In a speech on Thursday 27 May, Bank of Canada Deputy Governor Sheryl Kennedy said that higher oil prices and strong global demand are pushing Canada's inflation rate higher than was forecast in the April Monetary Policy Report.
BOJ reports loss for first time in 32 years
The Bank of Japan reported a current loss of 22.2 billion yen ($200 million) for the year ended March 31, as the yen's 13-percent gain against the dollar caused losses on foreign currency-denominated assets and bond prices fell.
Copom shows rate held to stall inflation
Brazils central bank decided to freeze its Selic base rate at 16% at its last Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) meeting in order to prevent short-term volatility from affecting inflation, minutes from the meeting showed.
New joint website De Nederlandsche Bank & PVK
A new joint website of De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) and the Pensions and Insurance Supervisory Authority for the Netherlands (PVK) has been created. Both organisations expect to be merged under the name of De Nederlandsche Bank.
ECB's Issing: Euro zone recovery set to continue
European Central Bank's chief economist Otmar Issing said on Thursday 27 May that economic recovery in the 12-country euro zone is set to continue and gather momentum this year.
No big short-term dollar shift says ECB's Wellink
The dollar is unlikely to show any big swings on the foreign exchange market soon as rapid growth allows the U.S. to finance its current account gap, European Central Bank Governing Council member Nout Wellink said in an interview on Thursday 27 May.
Bundesbank's Weber says banking mergers make sense
Bundesbank President Axel Weber said promoting mergers in the German banking industry may ``make sense'' as such combinations can be cheaper to carry out than partnerships with banks outside the country.
Renminbi float will be monitored closely, Zeti
Malaysia will closely monitor the implications of a possible float in the now-pegged renminbi in the foreign exchange market and particularly the effects on the local economy.
Russia's Ignatyev upbeat on inflation, currency
Russia has a good chance it can meet its inflation and foreign exchange targets despite rising oil prices and its budget situation, Russian Central Bank Governor Sergei Ignatyev said on Wednesday 26 May.
Brazil sticks to 5.5 % inflation target
Brazil's central bank continues to target inflation of 5.5 per cent this year despite the rising cost of oil and market expectations that consumer prices will rise, the bank's president said on Wednesday 26 May .
Exchanging views on central banking issues
At the opening on Tuesday 25 May of the Joint Eurosystem, Bank of Russia Seminar in Helsinki the participants were welcomed by Matti Louekoski, Acting Governor of the Bank of Finland. He stressed that the Russian Federation has been enjoying rapid…
Norway holds interest rate unchanged
Norway's central bank, Norges Bank, kept its key interest rate unchanged at their Wednesday meeting at 1.75 percent. Norges Bank maintained its outlook of easing bias suggesting they still believe that the next rate movement will more likely be a cut…
Conference on e-money to convene in Iran
The secretariat of the Supreme Council for Information Dissemination and the Export Development Bank of Iran (EDBI) will convene the first conference on e-money in Iran next month.
Bundesbank's Weber to discuss deficit with Eichel
Bundesbank President Axel Weber said he will meet with German Finance Minister Hans Eichel on Friday to discuss ways to avoid violating European Union budget rules for a fourth straight year in 2005.
Liebscher slams Stability Pact spoilers
European Central Bank governing council member Klaus Liebscher said Wednesday that euro zone states must respect the terms of the Stability and Growth Pact.
IMF opens training centre in China
On Wednesday the International Monetary Fund inaugurated a training center jointly built with China in Dalian, a port city in northeast China's Liaoning Province. Attendees included Robert Mundell, the former Nobel prize winner.
China economists call for yuan basket peg
A group of leading Chinese economists, including a member of the People's Bank of China's influential monetary policy committee, has called for China to remove its long-standing yuan peg to the U.S. dollar and fix the yuan to a basket of currencies.
Third ECB central banking conference dates
The European Central Bank announced on Monday 24 May that it will hold its 3rd Central Banking Conference on 21st and 22nd October 2004 in Frankfurt, on "The New EU member states: convergence and stability".
Bank of Japan's MP Meeting Minutes, April 04
The Bank of Japan released the minutes from its 8 and 9 April Monetary Policy Meeting on 25 May. Some Policy Board members said domestic long-term interest rates needed close monitoring and cited the risk of long-term interest rates rising before there…