News
Lebanese banks compliant, insists governor
Riad Salame, the governor of the Bank of Lebanon, has countered allegations that the country's financial institutions illegally supported Hezbollah, a militant group.
SARB mints Mandela coin
The South African Reserve Bank has issued a R5 (64) coin to commemorate the 90th birthday of Nelson Mandela, a former president and anti-apartheid campaigner.
Japanese SWF proposed
A panel of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has recommended that Japan should establish a sovereign wealth fund managing 10 trillion ($93 billion) in assets drawn from the country's pension reserves to bolster returns.
Tightening prospects fade in Japan
The prospects for a rate hike in Japan in the near future have become even smaller after a quarterly report by the Bank of Japan indicated that economic conditions have worsened in eight of the country's nine regions since April.
New Olympics banknote for China
The People's Bank of China (PBoC) is issuing a new 10-yuan note to commemorate the Beijing Olympics, which start in August. Local media reports suggested that the note will feature a drawing of the new National Stadium, also called the Bird's Nest -…
Seoul moves to stem won slide
The Bank of Korea and ministry of finance issued a joint statement on Monday declaring their intention to intervene to prevent further falls in the foreign exchange market.
Rising fuel prices spur Israel's rate hike
Concern over rising fuel prices led Stanley Fischer, the governor of the Bank of Israel, to opt for a quarter-point rate rise at last month's meeting of the central bank's monetary policy committee.
Sarkozy in SWF U-turn
Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, is having second thoughts about sovereign wealth funds. So much so that he is even suggesting that France should have one.
Europe's payments revolution is slow going
The number of payments made using the new SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) credit transfer have been "very low", admitted Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell, an executive director at the European Central Bank.
Bank Indonesia hikes rates
Indonesia's central bank raised rates for the third time in a row as the fuel price hike and soaring food prices pushed inflation to above 11% in June.
Have Australian rates peaked?
The statement accompanying the latest monetary-policy decision of the Reserve Bank of Australia suggests that the central bank's long cycle of monetary tightening may be over.
Swedish rates up, more to come
Sweden's central bank has raised rates by a quarter point to 4.5% - a new 12-year high - with the promise of two further hikes this year.
Bank of Ghana staff strike
Staff at the Bank of Ghana went on strike Thursday in protest over the dismissal of two colleagues.
China clamps down on hot money
The authorities in Beijing have announced new measures to curb the inflow of speculative money, which is adding to the booming economy's increasing inflation problem.
ECB's Tumpel hails "encouraging" replies to T2S
Responses from Europe's settlement houses to an invitation to join the European Central Bank's settlement initiative, T2S, have been "encouraging" said Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell, an executive director at the ECB, two days ahead of the deadline for replies.
ECB raises rate to 4.25%
The European Central Bank (ECB) has raised interest rates for the eurozone for the first time in a year.
We must be able to let a Bear go bust: Paulson
Hank Paulson, the US Treasury Secretary, called on Wednesday for a regulatory system that can withstand the failure of a large and complex financial firm.
Banknote supplier halts deliveries to Zimbabwe
The dire political situation in Zimbabwe has prompted Giesecke & Devrient, a German banknote supplier, to stop delivering banknote paper to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
ECB sells 30 tonnes of gold
The European Central Bank (ECB) sold 30 tonnes of gold on 30 June.
New York Fed promotes five senior vice presidents
The New York Federal Reserve announced the appointment of five new senior vice presidents and ten vice presidents on Monday.
Price surges hitting Africa hard: IMF
Several African countries are set to suffer a large blow as a result of soaring food and energy prices, the International Monetary Fund has said.
BIS's Knight to leave on 1 July
Malcolm Knight, the outgoing general manager of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), is to step down three months ahead of schedule.
Weaker unions will limit inflation: BIS's Knight
The outgoing head of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) offered some succour to central bankers on Monday, saying that the decline of unionisation will mean the second-round effects of the recent surge in global food and commodity prices will…
Eurozone inflation surges to 4%
Euro-area annual inflation is expected to have soared to a fresh high of 4% in the year to June, data released Monday revealed.