News
Interview with Central Bank of Cuba's Soberon
In an interview published this week, president Francisco Soberon of the Central Bank of Cuba said it would be extremely unwise for Cuba to change the one-to-one exchange rate to the dollar after the Cuban people have shown such confidence in the Cuban…
Bank of Israel promotes 20 percent of staff
A press report said this week that Bank of Israel governor David Klein has decided to promote 20 per cent of the central bank's staff, with salary increases of between 10 and 15 per cent. Haaretz said the move was made without consulting the workers…
RBI names Gopinath as key department head
Shyamala Gopinath, a deputy governor in the Reserve Bank of India, took charge of the key departments of monetary policy and internal debt management this week following Rakesh Mohan's move to Economic Affairs secretary in the government.
CBN may lose 2,000 staff
The Central Bank of Nigeria may lose up to 2,000 staff as part of a restructuring of the bank, press reports said this week. The majority of the affected employees work in four departments which are to be phased out as part of the plans, Vanguard said.
List of Greenspan successors shrinks
The re-election of President George Bush sharply narrows the field of candidates to succeed Alan Greenspan as Federal Reserve chief, this article says. Steven Cecchetti is quoted as saying Martin Feldstein is the unconditional best candidate.
Dallas Fed's McTeer says 'Goodbye and howdy'
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Bob McTeer resigned on Thursday 4 October to become chancellor at Texas A&M University, ending a 36-year career in the Federal Reserve system. In a statement posted on the Dallas Fed's website on Thursday titled …
Ukrainian election heads for runoff vote
The top two candidates to succeed Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma are heading for a run-off vote on 21 November, after neither won a majority in the first round. Former governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko is one of the candidates.
Cyprus and Russia sign money laundering accord
The Cypriot Unit for Combating Money Laundering (MOKAS) has signed a cooperation agreement with the corresponding unit from the Russian Federation on international cooperation against money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism.
NBU chief downbeat on common currency idea
The acting head of the National Bank of Ukraine, Arsen Yatsenyuk, said in an interview that there can be no question of introducing a common currency with Russia.
Taylor predicts smooth deficit adjustment in US
US Treasury Under secretary John Taylor has said he expects a smooth adjustment in the large US current account deficit. While some have bemoaned the increase in the deficit, Taylor said it was good news.
IMF's Rato calls on Bush to work on deficits
IMF managing director Rodrigo Rato was quoted as saying on Friday 5 November that newly re-elected US president George Bush should turn his attention to the country's budget and trade deficits as part of a global push to spur growth after winning re…
Italy's Fazio sees 2005 growth less than 2%
Bank of Italy governor Antonio Fazio told a conference he expects GDP in the third quarter to have risen 0.3 pct from the previous quarter, and forecast Italian growth of less than 2 pct for the whole of 2005.
ECB press conference with questions and answers
At the ECB's post-meeting press conference on Thursday 4 November, after eurozone interest rates were held unchanged, Jean-Claude Trichet gave a tougher warning about the immediate inflationary dangers ahead, calling a recent jump in consumer prices a …
PBOC deputy says China to continue yuan reform
China plans further measures to reform the exchange rate, the official Financial News reported, citing Li Ruogu, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank.
Argentina passes financial system reform package
Argentine central bank president Martin Redrado and four local banking associations, ABA, ADEBA, ABAPPRA and ABE have approved a new banking sector reform package called Compensacion Federal Uniforme, the central bank said in a statement.
ECB, BOJ officials to join bilateral meeting
Officials from the European Central Bank and Bank of Japan will for the first time participate in the annual vice ministerial meeting in Tokyo on 11 Nov. to discuss foreign exchange developments and China's dollar-pegged currency system, EU sources said…
Mexico's interest rates set to rise further
Mexico's central bank Deputy Governor Jesus Marcos Yacaman has said the country will continue to raise interest rates following seven increases this year, in order to bring down inflation.
Romanian central bank lowers rates
Romania's central bank has announced that it has lowered its key interest rate by 0.5 percentage points to 18.25%.
World central bank gold holdings down 3.2%
Analyst John C Tumazos of Prudential Financial said on Tuesday 2 November that world central bank gold holdings have declined by 3.2% since November 2002.
IMF says Germany's budget aims 'challenging'
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned in a report that Germany's budget deficit could breach EU rules in 2005 if additional economic measures are not taken by the government.
BOT chief says economy continues to grow
The Governor of the Bank of Thailand (BOT), M.R. Pridiyathorn Devakula, said on Tuesday 2 November that the Thai economy had continued to expand satisfactorily despite the downward revision of economic growth estimate.
Norway's central bank leaves key rate unchanged
Norway's central bank announced Wednesday 3 November that its key interest rate would remain unchanged at a record low 1.75 per cent.
Minutes from the Sveriges Riksbank Meeting, 13 Oct
Minutes from the Sveriges Riksbank Executive Board meeting on 13 October showed that the board was unanimous in its decision to leave the repo rate unchanged at 2 per cent.
Tanigaki: govt. must consider BoJ's deflation view
Japanese Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said on Tuesday 2 November that the government will need to consider the Bank of Japan's outlook for an end to deflation in 2005 when formulating future economic policies.