News
Price plunge won't herald deflation: ECB's Mersch
Though a fall in the price index at some point in 2009 is likely, such a slump should not be seen as a harbinger of deflation, Yves Mersch, the governor of the Central Bank of Luxembourg and a member of the European Central Bank's (ECB) Governing Council…
Caruana gets top job at BIS
Jaime Caruana, the director of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) monetary and capital markets department, will succeed Malcolm Knight as general manager of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
Japan holds, warns recovery to "take some time"
The Bank of Japan left rates on hold at 0.3% on Friday and warned that the country's ailing economy was unlikely to recover soon.
SNB's Heller to head Basel payments committee
Daniel Heller, the head of the Swiss National Bank's financial stability and oversight section, will take over from Denis Beau, a deputy director general of Banque de France's economics and international relations department, as head of the secretariat…
Swiss shock with 100 basis-point cut
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) surprised markets on Thursday by slashing its rate-target band by a full percentage point on signs of a sharp slowdown.
Latvia looks to IMF and EU for support
Riga on Thursday said that it would seek aid from the European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a bid to stave off a financial meltdown.
FOMC members see US contraction next year
Almost a third of the members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) see the US economy shrinking in 2009, the rate-setting board's latest economic projections reveal.
Turkey changes tack and cuts rates
The Central Bank of Turkey has shifted its monetary policy stance and cut rates on signs of slowing growth and below-target inflation in the years to come.
Croatia counters liquidity tensions
The Croatian National Bank on Thursday cut its reserve requirement by three basis points in a bid to ease liquidity strains.
INTERVIEW: Raghuram Rajan
Raghuram Rajan, a professor at the University of Chicago and a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), talks to CentralBankNews.com about the future role of the Fund.
Bank could have cut by 200bp
Members of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, who shocked markets earlier this month when they slashed rates by 150 basis points, had considered an even bigger cut.
Trichet defends decision to keep minutes secret
Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), has defended the institution's decision to keep details of its monetary policy meetings under wraps, saying the publication of minutes could damage credibility.
Fed's Kohn unconvinced rates should burst bubbles
The Federal Reserve's vice-chair believes it is still wrong for monetary policy to aim at bursting asset price bubbles despite events since last summer.
Kuwait enhances operations to restore liquidity
The Central Bank of Kuwait on Wednesday has launched new open-market operations in a fresh bid to shore up liquidity.
Governors to sit on UN regulatory reform panel
The governors of the Malaysian and Nigerian central banks and a former head of the Reserve Bank of India will form part of a UN task force to look into reform of the global financial system.
Paulson blames lack of time for Tarp u-turn
The US Treasury reneged on its earlier promise to buy banks' distressed assets because it ran out of time, Hank Paulson, the US treasury secretary told Congress on Tuesday.
FSF and IMF agree differentiation of roles
The Financial Stability Forum (FSF) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), two of the most prominent multilateral organisations, have moved to clarify their respective roles to prevent a tussle for greater regulatory power.
Public to blame for inflation: Zimbabwe's Gono
Gideon Gono, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, has said the public are to blame for the country's bout of hyperinflation.
British inflation dips by record amount
British annual inflation fell to 4.5% in October, down from 5.2% the previous month, on the back of the slump in oil prices. The 0.7 percentage point slide is the biggest since January 1997, when official records began, and since April 1992 based on…
INTERVIEW: Charles Wyplosz
Charles Wyplosz, a professor at the Graduate Institute, Geneva, and an occasional consultant to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, tells CentralBankNews.com why the Fund cannot play a role in regulating the financial system, why the Paulson…
ECB got it wrong on de-coupling: ex-research head
The European Central Bank was wrong to think the eurozone economies could defy the past and avoid the ill-effects of a recession in the United States, its former head of research has said.
Japan slides into recession, lends IMF $100bn
Japan's economy shrank by 0.4% in the third quarter, surprising analysts who had predicted the country to narrowly avoid a technical recession and grow by 0.1%.
G20 earns plaudits but fails to ease market mood
Markets were nonplussed by the G20 communique with most of the leading stock indices falling in Monday trading.
Basel's Wellink outlines vision for Basel II
Nout Wellink, the chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and president of the Netherlands Bank, on Monday detailed the committee's plans to improve its much-maligned Basel II framework.