News
Swedish seigniorage hits five-year high
The Riksbank has offered to pay SEK5.9 billion ($737m) of its profits to the national treasury for the financial year 2008, Sweden's central bank said on Monday.
Old Lady to begin buying commercial paper mid-Feb
The Bank of England's commercial paper facility will become operational on 19 February, the Bank said on Friday.
Ferguson, Feldstein join Volcker recovery panel
Martin Feldstein, a Harvard professor; Roger Ferguson, a former vice chairman at the Federal Reserve, and William Donaldson, a former SEC chairman, will join the economic recovery panel headed by Paul Volcker, a former chairman of the Fed.
Demand for eurozone loans shrinks
Demand for loans from both businesses and households across the euro area fell sharply in the fourth quarter, the European Central Bank's (ECB) latest credit conditions survey indicated.
Goodyear in after bad year at Temasek
Chip Goodyear, a former chief executive at BHP Billiton, a mining company, is to replace Ho Ching, the wife of Singapore's prime minister, as chief executive of Temasek, the city state's sovereign wealth fund.
Peru cuts for first time in more than three years
The Central Bank of Peru cut its key interest rate a quarter point to 6.25% on Thursday. It is the central bank's first cut since July 2005.
Bank cuts to 1%, economy in severe downturn
The Bank of England chopped 50 basis points off bank rate on Thursday and stepped up the rhetoric on the scale of the crisis, saying that the global economy was now "in the throes of a severe and synchronised downturn".
Tarp assets too dear
The head of a watchdog charged with overseeing the use of funds allocated to the Troubled Asset Relief Program (Tarp) said on Thursday that the Treasury was overpaying for its investments in banks.
SARB's easing cycle accelerates
The South African Reserve Bank cut its key rate by 100 basis points on Thursday following a 50 basis-point cut in January.
Growth fears outweigh depreciation threat for CNB
The Czech National Bank (CNB) has cut its key interest rate to 1.75%, the lowest level in more than three years, in an attempt to stave off recession despite concerns about koruna's weakening.
Richmond Fed's Charlotte office gets new head
Matthew Martin, an economist at the Richmond Federal Reserve, has been promoted to the role of senior vice president responsible for the Fed's Charlotte branch.
Kazakhstan devalues tenge by 18%
The National Bank of Kazakhstan has allowed the tenge's value to fall by almost a fifth against the greenback by substantially devaluing the currency's dollar peg.
SocGen losses cost Central Africa $584m - report
The Bank of Central African States has lost about $584m on investments made through Societe Generale, a bank, a senior official has reportedly said.
UK edges towards bad-bank solution
Britain is considering adopting the bad bank model to buy toxic assets a little over a fortnight after London announced plans to guarantee banks' bad debt.
Norway sees deeper, longer downturn ahead
Norges Bank shaved half a point off its key rate on signs the downturn could be deeper and last longer than previously expected.
Riksbank upgrades payments system
The Riksbank is to move to a new technology system and platform for RIX, the central bank's funds transfer system.
Report cautions on dangers of free capital flows
Dogmatic adherence to the doctrine of free capital flows is misguided and potentially dangerous, a new study from the Committee on the Global Financial System, a collective of central bankers from across the globe, warns.
New Icelandic PM calls for the governors' heads
Iceland's new prime minister has asked the central bank's three governors to step down.
SA's new CPI gauge trims inflation by 0.9pp
The new method of calculating South African headline inflation would have trimmed nine-tenths of a percentage point off the December measure, the government's statistics bureau said on Tuesday.
Australia slashes on signs of flagging demand
The Reserve Bank of Australia cut rates by a full percentage point for the second time in as many votes on Tuesday, saying that a dip in confidence was impacting demand.
Crisis demands a common voice: UK's McFall
John McFall, the chairman of Britain's Treasury Committee, tells CentralBankNews.com why the financial crisis means central bankers will have to change the way they speak.
Riksbank appoints new deputy
Karolina Ekholm, a professor at Stockholm University, is to succeed Irma Rosenberg as deputy governor of the Riksbank.
SNB offers dollar-denominated bills for UBS loan
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) announced on Monday that it will issue its own bills denominated in dollars.
Barbados' Williams warns storm brewing offshore
The chances that Barbados's economy will shrink in 2009 have intensified with the declining economic fortunes abroad, admitted Marion Williams, the governor of the country's central bank.