News
Malawi launches SADC fund for the poor
Malawi has launched an ambitious 15m pound sterling fund for projects targeting the poor in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The Financial Deepening Challenge Fund (FDCF), sponsored by the Department for International Development of the…
Bank of Canada forecasts 3 percent growth
The Bank of Canada estimates the Canadian economy will expand by 3 percent in 2001 after growing at a rate of 5 percent in 2000, Deputy Governor Sheryl Kennedy said on Jan. 29, 2001. "The Canadian economy has been performing well in recent years and we…
Egypt to value pound vs currency basket eventually
Egypt's Economy and Foreign Trade Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali said on Jan. 29 the Egyptian pound would eventually be valued against a basket of currencies, rather than the dollar as now."We are waiting to move to a basket of currencies when the time…
Mauritanian govt reshuffled, new cbank governor
The Mauritanian president decreed a partial government reshuffle on Jan. 28, 2001, in which the central bank governor, Mohfoudh Ould Mohamed Ali, was appointed finance minister. According to Mauritanian TV on the night of Jan. 28, the new central bank…
Sri Lankan president says rupee float was timely
President Chandrika Kumaratunga said on Jan 28, 2001, the flotation of the Sri Lankan rupee helped avert a possible economic crisis and added there would be an intervention if the currency fell too steeply. Speaking on a Sinhalese-language television…
Dutch cbank scores high in research
The 12 central banks which make up the European central banking system should compete more among themselves. And improvement of each bank's research team will increase the influence of the president of the relevant bank, according to Sylvester Eijffinger…
Russia cbank chief sees few results from IMF visit
Russia's central bank chief said on Jan. 27, 2000, he expected little from a visit to Moscow by an IMF mission next week, although agreement with the Fund is needed for Russia to start restructuring talks with the Paris Club. He also saw no reason why…
IMF to cut world growth forecast sharply
The deputy head of the International Monetary Fund said on Jan. 27, 2001, the IMF may cut its 2001 world growth forecast to around 3.5 percent from 4.2 percent and warned Japan had little scope to spur growth soon. Stanley Fischer, first deputy managing…
ECB rates on hold for now, Fed moves key - Welteke
The European Central Bank's interest rate policy is on hold for the time being, though another sharp cut from the U.S. Federal Reserve would force European policymakers to carefully assess their stance, Bundesbank President ECB board member Ernst Welteke…
Egypt money market authority on falling shares
Commenting on the fall in stock prices during the year 2000, an Egyptian official has said that despite the decline, bills and bonds portfolios had achieved a substantial growth rate. He explained that stock prices had fallen because of the negative…
Fraga says Brazil not that affected by US slowdown
A slowdown in the U.S. economy won't have a major impact on Brazil, in part because of the diversity of Brazil's export markets, central bank governor Arminio Fraga said Jan. 26. "Scenarios of economic deceleration, without a major crisis or anything…
Mexico Ortiz sees 2001 inflation 6.5% despite VAT
Official Mexican inflation targets for 2001 won't be changed whatever the impact of a value-added tax to be imposed shortly on certain goods, central bank governor Guillermo Ortiz said Jan. 26, 2001. Mexico is to impose VAT on food and medicines by an…
Riksbank new board member is economist, ex-MEP
Kristina Persson, an economist and former MEP, was appointed on Jan. 26, 2001, to fill a vacant seat on the Swedish Riksbank central bank's seven-member board of governors, which sets monetary policy, the bank said. Persson, 55, who has worked at the…
Macedonia central bank intervenes to prop denar
The National Bank of Macedonia (NBM) said on Jan. 26, 2001, it will begin intervention on the domestic foreign exchange market, selling marks to meet surging demand which has eroded the national currency, the denar. "The denar came under pressure from…
Cyprus angered at Yugo claim on Milosevic cash
One-time Serbian ally Cyprus on Jan. 26 angrily rejected assertions that it was not co-operating with inquiries to track down funds siphoned overseas by former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic.Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Cassoulides said he had…
Cyprus cbank leaves base rate unchanged at 7.0 pct
Cyprus's central bank left its key interest rate steady at 7.0 percent at a board meeting on Jan. 26 as expected, a senior manager said. "The board of the central bank decided to adopt the recommendation of the monetary advisory committee to leave the…
Czech house wants cbank aim cut from constitution
The lower house of the Czech parliament agreed on Jan. 26, 2001, to cut the central bank's policy aim out of the constitution, a part of a wider revamp of central bank laws by the country's two main parties.But the constitutional amendment is expected to…
Brash -Svensson report due 'within next few weeks'
A New Zealand government-appointed independent review into the country's monetary policy making will publish its findings within a few weeks, Reserve Bank Governor Don Brash said on Jan. 26, 2001.The one-man review is being conducted by Lars Svensson,…
Bank of Thailand, TRT at loggerheads on bank rules
The Bank of Thailand (BOT) insists that it will not lower the minimum average-weighted capital-adequacy ratio which financial institutions are required to maintain - currently 8.5 per cent of risk assets - even though the incoming government is calling…
Greenspan surprises with support for tax cuts
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan delivered some surprising support for President George W. Bush's call for a $1.6 trillion tax cut, saying tax cuts will benefit the economy in the long run."In today's context, where tax reduction appears…
Eichel plans to strengthen role of Buba president
German Finance Minister Hans Eichel Jan. 25 presented his proposal for streamlining the Deutsche Bundesbank, aimed at strengthening the position of the bank's president at the expense of the nine regional bank heads. But likely opposition to the plans in…