News
Federal Open Market Committee Meeting - Minutes
MINUTES - Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee for the 11 December, 2001 meeting released 31 January.
Transcript of a Press Briefing by Thomas Dawson
PRESS BRIEFING - Thomas Dawson, Director, External Relations Department, International Monetary Fund, 31 January.
States stay on money laundering list
HONG KONG - Nineteen countries and territories are to continue suffering under the stigma of being listed as havens for money laundering.
Turkey woos IMF with reforms
TURKEY - Turkey is due on Friday to finalise a series of reforms to its banking system, deemed to be crucial if the country is to secure further loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Slovak c bank replaces management of supervision
SLOVAKIA - Slovak central bank (NBS) appointed Deposit Protection Fund (FOV) head Milan Horvath as the new chief executive of the NBS banking supervision, replacing Tibor Kasiak, the bank's press department said Friday.
Goodhart talks on central bank independence
UK - Professor Charles Goodhart a former member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee made a powerful argument for central bankindependence in a talk at the London School of Economics yesterday, Thursday. A CentralBankNet correspondent was…
Fed minutes suggest rate hikes sooner than thought
US - A clearly recovering economy may allow the Fed to lift interest rates higher sooner, and by a wider margin, than currently projected - simply because the markets are prepared for such a development.
SNB sell 10.3 tons of gold in latest 10-day period
SWITZERLAND - The Swiss National Bank sold around 10.3 metric tons of surplus gold in the 10-day reporting period ended 31 January, the central bank's regular statistical report showed Friday.
Welteke sees no need for rate cuts now - report
PORTUGAL - Current European Central Bank interest rates are appropriate and there is no need for a cut at this time, Bundesbank President and ECB governing council member Ernst Welteke said in a newspaper interview published Friday.
Slovene gov't adopts Bill on the central bank
SLOVENIA - The Slovene government on Thursday adopted the bill on the Bank of Slovenia which aims to harmonise Slovenia's legislation in the field to that of the European Union. The bill has been sent to parliament, where MPs are to discuss it in second…
White House says interviewing Fed candidates
US - The Bush administration is interviewing candidates to fill two vacancies on the powerful seven-member Federal Reserve Board, a senior U.S. official said on Thursday.
IMF tells Argentina to cut spending
ARGENTINA - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has returned to Argentina to discuss the framework of a new financial aid package for cash-starved government in Buenos Aires.
US keeps interest rates unchanged
US - The US central bank, the Federal Reserve, has left interest rates unchanged Wednesday at 1.75%, saying signs for an economic recovery were "promising".
Dodge refuses to rule out common currency
CANADA - David Dodge, the Governor of the Bank of Canada, Tuesday, refused to rule out the possibility that Canada and the United States could share a common currency some day, though he said a number of tough conditions would have to be met first.
Bank of Canada - Press Release
PRESS RELEASE - Bank of Canada Governor reviews success of inflation targets, 29 January.
Federal Reserve Press Release, 30 January
PRESS RELEASE - The Federal Open Market Committee decided today to keep its target for the federal funds rate unchanged at 1-3/4 percent.
Globalisation forum kicks off
US - More than 3,000 of the world's movers and shakers are kicking off the World Economic Forum in the unaccustomed surroundings of bustling New York City.
Chaos in Kabul amid currency rumours
AFGHANISTAN - Afghanistan's currency markets have been plunged into chaos, amid reports that the Afghani could be abandoned temporarily for the dollar.
Court backs probe that hurts ECB hopeful Trichet
FRANCE - A French court refused on Thursday to scrap a banking scandal inquiry that is hurting Paris's hopes of making Bank of France Governor Jean-Claude Trichet president of the European Central Bank, a lawcourts official said.
Russian Ctrl Bk reserves $36.2B 25 January
RUSSIA - The Russian central bank said Thursday that its level of foreign-exchange and gold reserves dropped $300 million to $36.2 billion, in the week to 25 January.
Top civil servant to be new governor in Ireland
IRELAND - Mr John Hurley, the senior civil servant in the Department of Finance, will be the new governor of the Central Bank. The incumbent, Mr Maurice O'Connell, has indicated to the Minister for Finance, Mr Charlie McCreevy that he will be stepping…
Brazil to handle exchange interventions online
BRAZIL - Brazil's central bank will transfer intervention operations in the currency exchange market to an online system, Central Bank Monetary Policy Directory Luiz Fernando Figueiredo said late Wednesday.
ECB and BoE - distinguishing features
UK - Analysts often laud the speed of the Fed's response times, like the BoE's, to changes in the business climate, while they decry the supposed "slowness" and unpredictable nature of the ECB.
IMF's Koehler urges coherent plan from Argentina
US - The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday urged Argentine authorities to develop a comprehensive and coherent economic strategy that the lender can back with loans.