News
Hong Kong's latest foreign currency reserves
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced on Friday 7 January that the official foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong amounted to US$123.6 billion at the end of December 2004, up from US$121.5 billion at end-November 2004.
Statement by IMF's Rato at ASEAN Leaders' Meeting
Rodrigo de Rato, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), issued the following statement on Thursday 6 January at the high-level meeting on humanitarian relief for countries affected by the Asia tsunami disaster in Jakarta, Indonesia.
PMA chief steps down
The governor of the Palestine Monetary Authority, Amin Haddad, resigned on Wednesday 5 January , according to a Palestinian minister who was quoted in local press reports.
CBC's Perng denies being top candidate for premier
Central Bank of China (CBC) Governor Perng Fai-nan has denied rumours that he is likely to be named by Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian as the next premier.
Central Bank of China name-change plan
Taiwan's Premier Yu Shyi-kun has said that the government will continue to push a proposal to change the names of state-owned enterprises, including the Central Bank of China, to include the word "Taiwan."
Nepal urged to speed up central bank appointment
A committee of three economists set up to suggest suitable candidates as the new governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank, the central bank, has urged the government to act on its recommendations. Disagreement within the government has meant no decision has yet…
ECB's framework for the detection of fake euros
The Eurosystem's terms of reference for the detection of counterfeits and fitness sorting of euro banknotes by credit institutions and other professional cash handlers was published on Thursday 6 January by the ECB.
Way cleared for Yushchenko
Ukraine's Supreme Court cleared the way on Thursday 6 January for former central bank governor Viktor Yushchenko to be inaugurated as president next week when it rejected an appeal against Mr Yushchenko's victory in the presidential election.
Kansas Fed's Hoenig says US rates accommodative
Kansas City Federal Reserve President Thomas Hoenig said on Thursday 6 January that US interest rates remain "fairly accommodative" and are likely to help stimulate economic growth of between 3.5 and 4 percent.
More work needed on deflation, says Tanigaki
Japan's Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki told a press conference on Friday 7 January that more effort is needed to stop Japan's falling consumer prices and pledged to continue cooperating with the Bank of Japan to end deflation.
HKMA's Yam says dollar may become less popular
The dollar may become ``less popular'' as a reserve currency should record U.S. current-account and budget deficits persist, said Joseph Yam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in an article published by the HKMA on Thursday.
Profit probably near to zero says Bundesbank
The Bundesbank said its profit was probably close to zero last year following the dollar's fall to a record low against the euro cutting the value of the central banks dollar denominated assets.
Statement by IMF's Rato ahead of Jakarta meeting
Rodrigo de Rato, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), issued the following statement on Wednesday 5 January after arriving in Jakarta, Indonesia, for a high-level meeting on humanitarian relief for countries affected by the Asia…
ECB announces public consultation on SWIFT
The European Central Bank announced on Wednesday 5 January that it was inviting the market to participate in the SWIFT public consultation on removing technical barriers to market integration.
IMF calls on Vietnam to ease currency peg
The International Monetary Fund forecast on Wednesday 6 January that Vietnam's economy should grow by 7 percent in 2005, and urged authorities to "move cautiously" to ease the nearly fixed dong-dollar exchange rate.
RBI's Reddy says tsunami will impact on deficit
Speaking on Thursday 6 January, Reserve Bank of India Governor YV Reddy said that while the recent tsunami would only have a limited economic impact, it would put some upward pressure on the fiscal deficit.
Belgium's Reynders urges ECB to be more responsive
Speaking at the end of a press conference, Belgian finance minister Didier Reynders called on the European Central Bank to react more quickly to changes in the economic situation.
BOK pledges to maintain price stability
The Bank of Korea said on Wednesday 5 January that it will focus on making sure the country does not exceed its inflation target this year, while promoting coodination between monetary, fiscal, foreign exchange and regulatory policies.
FOMC Minutes, 14 December
Minutes from the Federal Reserve's 14 December FOMC meeting released on 4 January said that with the economic expansion more firmly entrenched, cost and price pressures were likely to become a clearer, intermediate-term risk to sustained good economic…
Bank of England MPC Minutes, 8&9 December
The minutes from the 8 & 9 December meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England showed that members voted unanimously to leave the benchmark interest rate unchanged, with some policy makers raising the possibility of a rate cut.
Bank of Spain sees GDP continuing trend
The Bank of Spain said in its monthly economic bulletin that the GDP growth trend seen in the third quarter is expected to continue into the fourth quarter.
Greenspan, Clinton fuelled '90s boom
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan can take only partial credit for the longest economic expansion on record in the 1990s, Morgan Stanley's chief economist Stephen Roach wrote in Foreign Policy, a magazine published by the Carnegie Endowment for…
China's monetary policy may not tighten-PBOC
China's recent pledge to conduct a prudent monetary policy does not necessarily mean the bank will continue its credit tightening measures, the China Securities Journal reported, citing a People's Bank of China official.
BOK expected to report losses
South Korea's central bank is expected to have recorded more than 100 billion won (US$96.4 million) in losses last year following interest payments for debts sold to control liquidity ballooned, officials at the Bank of Korea said Tuesday.