News
Brazil's central bank faces 'weak' strike action
Workers vowed to paralyse Brazil's central bank and Finance Ministry during a strike of public workers on Tuesday. The action was described as "weak" with most employees going to offices as normal past handfuls of protestors who urged them to save their…
Information Guide for institutions using TARGET
The European Central Bank published on 9 July a new edition of the "Information Guide for credit institutions using TARGET". This publication provides a standard set of information on TARGET functionality and answers the most frequently asked questions…
Bank of England statement on rate cut decision
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee today voted to reduce the Bank's repo rate by 0.25% to 3.50%, 10 July. In its press release the Bank said the global economic recovery remained hesitant and the cut was needed to keep inflation on track to…
Statement on IMF Managing Director visit to Kenya
Statement to the press made by Horst Kohler, Managing Director of the IMF in Nairobi, on July 8, 2003. Kohler said that while the challenges were considerable, the Kenyan government has begun to tackle them in "a decisive manner".
ECB holds interest rates steady
At Thursday's meeting the Governing Council of the ECB decided that the minimum bid rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 2.00%, 3.00% and 1.00%…
UK interest rates cut by a quarter point
The Bank of England cut interest rates by a quarter point to 3.5 per cent on Thursday. The Bank said the fall in the value of the pound since the start of the year should help underpin growth, but pointed out that the decrease had been partly reversed in…
Irish c bank investigates shop over euro leaflet
A fashion shop in Ireland is under investigation by the central bank for using an image of a euro banknote in a promotional campaign for the shop. The shop, called "Solo" apparently substituted its name for "euro" on the note, the Irish Times reported.
Y V Reddy set to become new RBI governor
YV Reddy will become the next governor of the Reserve Bank of India, succeeding Bimal Jalan. The decision was taken Tuesday at a meeting arranged by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, The Economic Times reported.
Socialists suspend talks over Bulgaria's cb chief
Following the withdrawal last week of right-wing politicians from the debate on who should become the next governor of the National Bank of Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Socialist Party suspended negotiations on Wednesday, Novinite reported.
Peru central bank deputy denies Webb has resigned
Carlos Castro, deputy president of the central bank of Peru denied newspaper reports that central bank chief Richard Webb had resigned. Reports suggested Webb quit his post after clashing with the board's six other members over the dismissal of several…
Special Exhibition at the Bank of England Museum
This week the Bank of England marks the 250th anniversary of the birth, in 1753, of its renowned architect Sir John Soane with the opening of a special commemorative exhibition in the Bank's Museum, 8 July.
Slovak central bank forecasts positive euro effect
The adoption of the euro in Slovakia will mean the realisation of all the positive impacts of the integration on the Slovak economy, the NBS said in a statement, TASR News reported.
Bank of England meets with King and Lomax in place
The Bank of England's interest rate setting MPC began their two day meeting Wednesday. It will be the first time Mervyn King sits on the Committee as governor and the first MPC meeting for Rachel Lomax who takes over from King as the new deputy governor…
Guts needed to take top job at the IMF
An ill timed joke apparently prevented war-time president of the BIS, JW Beyen, from becoming managing director of the IMF, the Financial Times reports.
Central Bank of Burundi hit by rebels gun fire
Burundian rebels fighting in the capital Bujumbura have hit the central bank with shells, Radio Burundi reported.
Italy won't try to change euro pact rules - Solbes
EU economics commissioner Pedro Solbes said in an interview that Italy will not attempt to change the strict rules underpinning the stability and growth pact during its six-month presidency of the European Union, Associated Press said.
Shiokawa says he, Fukui aren't worried about bonds
Speaking in Tokyo Wednesday after a meeting with Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui, Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said he agreed with Fukui that there is not much concern that long-term rates have risen a little bit, Bloomberg reported.
Reserve Bank of India boss may leave for politics
Reserve Bank of India governor Bimal Jalan is likely to leave his post in the next few weeks for a seat in parliament, Reuters reported a banking source as saying.
Gunmen attack Iraq central bank governor
The acting governor of the central bank of Iraq Faleh Daud Salman escaped unhurt on Monday after the car he was travelling in was fired on, The Australian reports. Two passengers in the car were wounded however, the report added. But a separate report…
A twenty-first century BIS
73 years on and the world's oldest international financial organisationwith it, the BIS is alive and well. As usual, a swarm of central bankgovernors great and small descended on Basel last weekend to participate inthe BIS annual meetings.
King assumes his throne
The long-awaited moment has arrived: Mervyn King has moved into EddieGeorge's offices on Threadneedle Street, now that he has been baptised asgovernor of the Bank of England.
Dogfighting over the ECB
The European League for Economic Cooperation (ELEC) has issued aresolution betraying unease that appointments to the ECBexecutive board could degenerate into a more or less continuous politicaldogfight.
Stand-off in Bulgaria
The mess in the ECB appointment process also needs to be cleared up to set anexample to other countries as to how these things should be done. Bulgaria might have benefited from this.
A lean machine
The central bank in Ghana is cutting back its staff drastically. Some central banks in the Eurosystem will be jealous.