News
HK's Acting Financial Secretary welcomes reform
In response to the announcement made by the People's Bank of China Thursday evening, Hong Kong's Acting Financial Secretary, Stephen Ip welcomed the latest reform to the renminbi exchange rate regime.
MAS says increased S$ volatility not expected
The Monetary Authority of Singapore said it does not expect greater volatility in the Singapore dollar as a result of the revaluation of the yuan and ringgit.
Zimbabwe devalues currency by almost 40%
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has announced a 39% devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar, to Z$17,500 to the US dollar, as part of a package of reforms designed to reverse the country's precipitous economic decline.
Venezuela's president signs central bank reforms
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has signed a partial reform to the Central Bank Law to authorise investing six billion US dollars of hard currency reserves in social programs.
People's Bank of China: Statement on exchange rate
The People's Bank of China released a statement on Thursday 21 July following the announcement that it is revaluing its currency and scraping the yuan's decade-old peg to the dollar in favour of a basket of currencies.
Japan welcomes China yuan decision
Japan welcomed China's decision on Thursday 21 July to end its currency's peg to the U.S. dollar and other Asian officials said they were closely watching developments.
Malaysia scraps ringgit peg to the dollar
Bank Negara Malaysia announced Thursday 21 July that it is scrapping the ringgit's seven-year old peg to the dollar and moving to a managed float against a basket of currencies with immediate effect.
OECD Secretary-General pleased by China move
OECD Secretary-General Donald Johnston made a statement in reaction to China's announcement Thursday 21 July to remove its currency's fixed peg to the US dollar.
China repegs yuan to basket of currencies
The People's Bank of China (PBoC) said on Thursday 21 July that it has scrapped the yuan peg to the US dollar and repegged the Chinese unit to a basket of trade-weighted currencies.
CBI begins 45th annual general assembly
The 45th annual general assembly of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) commenced in Tehran on Thursday 21 July with President Mohammad Khatami presiding over the session.
Bank of England MPC Minutes, 6 & 7 July
The minutes from the 6 & 7 July meeting of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee published on Wednesday 20 July showed policy makers voted 5-4 to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4.75%.
RBI technical committee holds first meeting
The first meeting of the Technical Advisory Committee on Monetary Policy was held on Tuesday 19 July at the Reserve Bank of India, Central Office, Mumbai.
Zimbabwe rules out flexible exchange rate
Zimbabwe's central bank governor Gideon Gono said on Wednesday 20 July that the country will not liberalise the exchange rate soon because of widespread indiscipline in the economy.
China's central bank sees controlled forex reform
The People's Bank of China has said in a statement that reform of the yuan exchange rate will be a controlled and gradual process to be carried out by China alone.
Venezuela passes foreign reserves reform bill
Venezuela's Congress on Tuesday 19 July approved a reform bill giving the government access to $6 billion of the nation's international reserves.
Bank of Japan Policy Board Minutes
The Bank of Japan published the minutes from its 14 and 15 June Monetary Policy Meeting on 18 July. The minutes showed the board voted down in mid-June two proposals to cut its liquidity target, including one proposal to reduce it to just 25 trln yen.
PBOC official suggests monetary easing idea
A senior Chinese central bank official has said that commercial lenders should ensure that funds continued to flow to healthy companies.
EU regulator warns bank chiefs over consolidation
One of the European Union's most senior banking supervisors has warned against interference in the consolidation of the continent's banking industry.
Luxembourg's Mersch indicates unchanged ECB rate
European Central Bank Governing Council member and Luxembourg central bank president Yves Mersch indicated in an interview the ECB will keep its key rates unchanged despite higher oil prices.
Malaysia's Zeti sees more Islamic bank licenses
Bank Negara Malaysia may issue more Islamic bank licences to local banks and foreigners in a bid to transform the country into and Islamic banking hub, the central bank governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz said.
Greenspan says economy coping well despite oil
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has said that high oil prices could hamper -- but not derail -- economic growth in the United States this year.
ECB's biannual information on euro counterfeiting
In the first half of 2005, 293,000 counterfeit euro banknotes were withdrawn from circulation, the European Central Bank said on 15 July.
Austria's Grasser says ECB criticism unhelpful
Austrian Finance Minister Karl-Heinz Grasser said in an interview that criticism of the European Central Bank by some eurozone countries is diverting attention away from Europe's real economic problems.
China easing forex controls to help overseas firms
China will loosen its foreign exchange controls to give more financing support to overseas Chinese companies as the central government moves to encourage domestic firms to invest abroad, the official Financial News reported, citing a government official.