News
Court confirms validity of Tuma as CNB head
CZECH REPUBLIC - The Czech Constitutional Court on 20 June confirmed the validity of President Vaclav Havel's appointment of Zdenek Tuma as Czech National Bank (CNB) governor and Ludek Niedermeyer as vice governor.
Chancellor cautious on early UK euro entry
UK - Gordon Brown, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, gave a cautious welcome to UK entry to the euro at his mansion house speech on 20 June.
Eichel supports ECB's Duisenberg
GERMANY - German Finance Minister Hans Eichel has lent his support to the European Central Bank's oft-criticized president, Wim Duisenberg, German business newspaper reported on 21 June.
Hungarian parliament passes new central bank act
HUNGARY - The Hungarian parliament passed the new Central Bank Act late evening of 19 June. The new act relegates supervisory authority over the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) to the State Audit Office (ASZ), and replaces the current central bank council…
Single currency for NZ and Aus
NEW ZEALAND - Economists at a Sydney forum discussed a shared currency for New Zealand and Australia on 20 June.
Friedman issues euro warning
US - Top US economist Milton Friedman believes Europe was wrong to introduce the single European currency and predicts it will lead to a raft of economic problems for the region.
Argentina's new measures to combat recession
ARGENTINA - Argentina is preparing to implement it's latest package of measures aimed at wresting the country out of a three-year recession and staving off a potential debt default.
Protest fear forces World Bank switch
SPAIN - The World Bank has decided to hold an annual development conference in cyberspace after protesters threatened to disrupt the event.
Bank of England minutes show rates firmly on hold
UK - The Bank of England has published the minutes to it's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held on 5 and 6 June. The minutes show that the MPC were strongly in favour of keeping interest rates on hold.
Euro € - Dutch prepare for switch with free coins
NETHERLANDS - The Dutch government has extravagent plans to prepare its people for the arrival of new euro notes and coins on 1 January 2002. Alone among the participating countries, the Dutch will put free coins in everyone's pocket before the…
Arab central bank hits out
UAE - The UAE central bank has lashed out at a US report claiming the Emirates is in 'the second category' in relation to money laundering.
Euro € - Warning on readiness for euro
USA - Oracle, the world's second largest software company, has warned that companies could hit an "information technology bottleneck" in the run-up to the introduction of euro notes and coins on 1 January.
Chilean economy minister leaves post for bank seat
CHILE - Chile's Economy Minister Jose de Gregorio announced late on 18 June that he will step down from his post in order to seek congressional approval to join the Central Bank's five-member monetary policymaking board.
Euro € - Five economic tests have not started yet
UK - Chancellor Gordon Brown has quashed speculation that assessment of the five tests necessary for Britain's entry in the single currency have already begun and narrowly avoided a 'banana skin' during a BBC radio interview on 18 June.
Soros avoids the euro
EUROPE - In an interview with the German Sunday newspaper, Welt Am Sontag, George Soros says that betting on the euro is a mug's game.
Basle 2 'rules will leave banks short of capital'
SWITZERLAND - New rules on the amount of capital international banks must hold have been criticised as failing to meet necessary standards for the regulation of the global banking industry. It is suggested that banks will have an incentive to 'game' the…
Basle 2 'Developing countries fear poor loan loss'
GUATEMALA - The Basle 2 regulations, requiring banks in industrialised countries to make increased provisions for loans to their counterparts in developing countries, would make funds more expensive and scarce for those countries classed as the biggest…
Bank of Japan makes policy board appointment
JAPAN - Shin Nakahara has been appointed to the policy board of the Bank of Japan. He succeeds Susumu Taketomi whose term has ended. Nakahara was deputy president of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.
Welteke - UK exchange rate problem for euro entry
GERMANY - Bundesbank President Ernst Welteke said on 18 June the chances for a UK entry into European Monetary Union have increased with the re-election of the Labour government, but the current high exchange rate of sterling is a problem.
Euro-zone inflation over 3 percent for first time
EUROPE - Inflation in the 12-nation euro-zone soared to 3.4 percent in May, a surprisingly high increase that pushed the rate above 3 percent for the first time since the European single currency was launched in January 1999.
Tax havens act to avoid sanctions
CARIBBEAN - Some Caribbean tax havens are tightening anti-money laundering rules in an attempt to avoid punitive action threatened by the world's biggest economies.
Canada's inflation target setting could be better
CANADA - The Bank of Canada's new regime for setting inflation targets is an improvement on the old, but the bank could do even better, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute.
BOJ board keeps monetary policy unchanged
JAPAN - The Bank of Japan (BOJ) kept its already super-loose policy unchanged on 15 June, resisting political pressure for even more monetary firepower to stop the economy from deteriorating further.
IMF Sri Lanka trip reviews economic data standard
SRI LANKA - A mission from the International Monetary Fund is in Sri Lanka to assess whether economic data reported by state institutions are transparent and conform to international standards, officials said on 15 June.