News
China hints at looser dollar peg
China's central bank new description of its exchange rate policy hints at plans to allow greater movement against the US dollar.
Interview with Mexico's Ortiz
Guillermo Ortiz, the governor of Mexico's central bank, has warned that the failure to introduce needed reforms will limit economic recover.
Duisenberg at a discount
Despite a splendid send-off in October, including a blizzard of awards from European countries, the image of Wim Duisenberg, the former president of the ECB, is starting to fade, CentralBankNet can exclusively reveal.
2002 statistics for CPSS countries payment systems
This annual BIS publication provides data on payments and payment systems in the CPSS countries: Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong SAR, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States.
Minutes of BoJ monetary policy meeting
The Bank of Japan monetary policy board met on November 20 and 21. The members agreed that the economy was starting to recover gradually and voted unanimously to maintain the current guideline for money market operations with the target range of "around…
Is There a Digital Divide?
The new edition of the San Francisco Fed's "Economic Letter" asks whether the region enjoys an advantage over the rest of the US in terms of the digital literacy of the population.
FMC on the Bush Fed, capital flows & Beige Book
The Financial Markets Centre, an independent non-profit reserach centre which studies the work of the Federal Reserve has released three new papers, on the Fed during the "Bush II" era, the impact of the US capital account deficit, and an analysis of the…
Hong Kong measures its banking supervision
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has released its annual assessment as to how how well local banks are meeting the Banking Code. According to the HKMA Hong Kong banks are nearly fully compliant.
Yam reviews financial stability arrangements
In his weekely web column, Joseph Yam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority reviews how the HKMA monitors financial stability through its new regular "Financial Stability Report".
Putting the square mile to the test
Now that the Bank of England can no longer be seen as the champion of the City to government, will London lose out as a financial centre? The Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CFSI) held a meeting of interested parties earlier this month to…
Swiss National Bank given freedom to invest
Under the new Swiss National Bank (SNB) statute, the SNB will be allowed to invest in a far-wider range of assets.
Dollar fall to hit central bank profits
The strength of the euro against the dollar is proving a double-edged sword for Europe's central bankers. The decline in the value of the dollar against the euro is likely to eat into the earnings of the central banks of Germany, Austria and the…
Big cutback at New York Fed
The New York Fed's Buffalo regional office has announced that it will cut 60 of its 130 jobs in a nationwide restructuring of its retail securities business, officials said on Thursday 18 December.
RBNZ mulls ANZ takeover
ANZ Banking Group has until Christmas to convince New Zealand's reserve bank about its plans for taking over the National Bank. Following the passage of a new Reserve Bank Act in August, the RBNZ must approve large-bank mergers in New Zealand.
Limit foreign takeovers, says Korean central bank
The Bank of Korea expressed its concern over growth in foreign ownership in the country's financial system on 21 December and called on the government to delay the privatisation of banks so that domestic buyers could be found.
ECB release forex rules for acceding central banks
The European Central Bank has released a paper which spells out how accession country central banks must manage their currencies in the run up to joining the euro.
High inflation hurting Irish competitiveness
High inflation in recent years has led to lasting damage to Irish competitiveness, the Central Bank said in its winter bulletin. The bank says the country has not only lost its competitive edge but in absolute terms the price level in Ireland is now 12%…
India's foreign exchange reserves top $100 bn
India's foreign exchange reserves broke through the $100 billion mark for the first time, on the back of investment and trade flows and the dollar's weakness against other currencies.
Malta's Deputy Governor re-appointed
David Pullicino has been re-appointed as deputy governor of the Central Bank of Malta for a five year term. Pullicino has been closely associated with the bank's development over the years and is involved in the strategy of eventual integration into the…
Finland's Matti Vanhala on sick leave
Governor of the Bank of Finland Matti Vanhala had some bad luck while staying at his holiday home in the archipelago recently. Vanhala broke his thigh and needed an operation which, the bank said, will keep him at home until after Christmas.
Chile's Senate approves new board member
Economist Manuel Marfan has been approved by Chile's Senate as a new member of the central bank's board. Marfan has an economics PhD from Yale University and currently works for the UN.
RBA appoints new Deputy Governor
The Reserve Bank of Australia has appointed Dr Philip Lowe as Assistant Governor, Financial System. Lowe joined the RBA 1980 after completing a PhD in economics at MIT. He will take up the position in early 2004.
NZ's Bollard's good cheer Christmas cards
Following on from his Goldilocks Christmas card last year, Alan Bollard has continued his seasonal cheer this time around with a card showing Santa's sleigh flying over the Reserve Bank spilling money and with a large percentage sign symbolising the OCR,…
Paul Acquah elected chairman of WAMZ
Paul Acquah, Governor of the Bank of Ghana, was unanimously endorsed as the new chairman of the Committee of Governors of Central Banks of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) at its 10th meeting last Tuesday.