News
Bank of England's Court appoints John Footman
The Bank of England has announced the appointment of John Footman as an Executive Director to its Court of Directors, 17 July. John Footman (50) joined the Bank in 1969 and has worked across most of the Bank's main functions.
Bank of Japan's Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes
Minutes of the Bank of Japan's Monetary Policy Meeting on 10 and 11 June 2003, released 18 July. One member said that, with still no prospect of overcoming deflation, the Bank should make a credible public commitment to realise an increase in the money…
Papademos - ECB may have leeway for rate cuts
ECB Vice President Lucas Papademos told Corriere della Sera newspaper in an interview Friday that the economic situation had changed little since the ECB last cut its key interest rate in June and that "we might have room for manoeuvre in the future" if…
BOJ's Fukui says stock gains outweigh bond losses
Toshihiko Fukui said the Bank of Japan has no plan to "step in" and manipulate bond yields. Speaking at a monthly press conference he said Japanese banks probably earn more from stock market gains than they lose from lower bond prices, Bloomberg reported.
Polish central bank may lend State $3-4bn
A member of the national bank of Poland's (NBP) interest rate setting RPP said the NBP may lend the government upto $3-4bn. Dariusz Rosati said the loan would go part of the way to meeting persistent demands by the government that the Bank should support…
WAMZ holds conference over common central bank
A 2-day conference in Accra will discuss the creation of a common central bank in the West African region by July 2005, The Chronicle reported. J.B. Clottey of the Bank of Ghana said he believes that through the implementation of a central bank, member…
Time 'not right' for yuan float
Responding to comments Wednesday by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan that China eventually will need to float its currency, the yuan, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said the current exchange rate helps China's development and the rest…
Philadelphia Fed survey rises sharply in July
The Philadelphia Fed's Business Outlook Survey improved modestly in July, BizWorld reported. Company executives polled for the survey remain "generally optimistic" that business conditions will improve over the next six months, the survey showed.
US signals formal end to recession
The business-cycle dating committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research on Thursday declared that the US recession ended in November 2001. The committee said GDP suggested the economy began recovering in late 2001 and has since risen above its…
ECB's biannual information on euro counterfeiting
In the first half of 2003, 230,534 counterfeit euro banknotes were removed from circulation, the ECB reported Wednesday. This compares with the 145,153 counterfeits removed in the previous six-month period. However, the ECB reports that over recent…
Waigel says ECB president deal never existed
Former German finance minister Theo Waigel said in an article published in the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Tuesday that no deal ever existed for Wim Duisenberg to stop down half way through his term as president of the ECB to make way for a…
Afghan central bank to restrict capital outflows
Anwar Ahady, president of Afghanistan's central bank said Wednesday the Bank will impose a limit of the equivalent of 10,000 US dollars that any individual and organization can take out of the country, Xinhua News Agency said.
ATM figures show Spain top with 1,123 per million
Figures compiled jointly by the ECB and Bank of Israel show that Spain has the highest number of ATM's per capita while Italy made the highest withdrawals from ATM's at €163 per capita, Reuters reported.
Oblath - Forint strengthening 'matter of time'
After receiving his official appointment to the Monetary Council of the national bank of Hungary, Gabor Oblath said reducing inflation was the highest priority for the Council. Oblath had previously resigned from the Council in January but agreed to…
What to do about the Yuan
This article looks at Alan Greenspan's comments this week that China's currency peg is unsustainable with a huge accumulation of US dollar reserves standing at $346.5 billion at the end of June. The pace of the increase in flows is astounding, the Asian…
Czech president against single EU currency
Czech President Vaclav Klaus, currently on a visit to France said he believes that it was unwise to adopt a single European currency because it is not necessary to get rid of one's monetary policy, one's interest rate policy and exchange rate Czech radio…
Polish premier seeks agreement with central bank
Polish prime minister Leszek Miller said Thursday he sees room for interest rate cuts as inflation is not a problem in Poland and hoped for a harmonised economic and monetary policy, PAP news agency said.
Dinkic says EU warn to respect c bank independence
Mladjan Dinkic said late Wednesday that the Serbian national bank had received a letter from the European Commission warning the government "to strictly respect the independence of the central bank" if it wanted to be admitted into the EU.
Bank of Canada trims growth and inflation forecast
The Bank of Canada again reduced its growth forecast for 2003 on Thursday. Bank Governor David Dodge referred to "unanticipated" developments that have caused it to lower its forecast, including SARS, BSE and the rising value of the Canadian dollar…
EU rejects Chirac call on stability pact
EU finance ministers have rejected calls from France for more flexibility in the stability and growth pact. Ireland's Minister for Finance Charlie McCreevy warned that, with Europe's biggest economies in breach of the pact, its credibility was coming…
Bulgaria parliament again postpone c bank election
Bulgarian radio reported Wednesday that parliament had again postponed discussion on the election of a new governor for the national bank of Bulgaria, Novinite said.
BOJ says economic outlook improved
The Bank of Japan's July monthly report released Wednesday said business fixed investment is on a gradual recovery and while it reiterated that economic activity remains ``virtually flat,'' it said the outlook for exports has improved, Bloomberg reported.
Dnevnik: IMF has objections to Serbian bank law
Novi Sad daily Dnevnik reported Wednesday that the IMF objects to a clause within the draft legislation increasing the amount by which the state can go into debt with the central bank from five to 10 percent.
Eurozone inflation reaches ECB's 2% threshold
Eurozone inflation last month rose to the 2 per cent ceiling determined by the European Central Bank, official figures showed on Wednesday, the FT said.