News
Central Bank of Hungary governor offers to give up salary
Andras Simor attempts to ease conflict with government; desperate for the country not to lose ability to negotiate with International Monetary Fund over emergency funding
EU freezes assets of Syrian central bank
Council of the European Union announces freeze on central bank assets among string of sanctions; EU “increasingly appalled” by situation in the country, says council
Lagarde stresses importance of firewalls
Managing director of IMF says she is “encouraged” by G-20 commitment to strengthening firewalls to limit spread of economic damage
IMF approves conditional distribution of gold profits
International Monetary Fund agrees to distribute $1.1 billion of profits from gold sales; member countries must first pledge contributions to Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust
Philadelphia Fed launches consumer credit and payments web pages
Research and statistics on consumer credit and payments now displayed on separate web page; includes searchable publications library and access to podcasts
Lithuania continues restructure of operations
Bank of Lithuania continues “optimising” operations; will concentrate key functions within specialised services and close a vault
Irish central bank appoints director of economics
Central Bank of Ireland hires chief economist from Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority
David Lees remains Court of the BoE chair
HM the Queen approves political recommendations that David Lees be reappointed as chair of the Court of the Bank of England
De Larosière fears another crippling credit crunch in Europe
New international banking regulations aimed at cleaning up the financial system could cause a crippling credit crunch in Europe, says Jacques de Larosière
Philippines reveals extent of lending to IMF
Central Bank of the Philippines announces shift in relationship with International Monetary Fund; holdings from the country have been used to support Ireland, Portugal and Greece
Ukraine picks central banker as finance minister: reports
First deputy governor Yurii Kolobov becomes finance minister; local media reports unconfirmed by official sources
EU banking sector reform group finalised
EU commissioner reveals picks for expert group on banking reforms; governor of the Bank of Finland is chairman
Turkey agrees currency swap with China
Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey and People's Bank of China agree currency swap
Asean+3 safety net needs more firepower
The regional liquidity safety net in Asia created via the Chiang Mai Initiative is still small and needs a more aggressive pre-emptive mandate if it is to head off crises before they occur
Vietnam and San Francisco Fed reflect on banking seminar
State Bank of Vietnam deputy governor meets with delegation from Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco; group discusses recent seminar on monitoring and managing banks in Vietnam
HKMA’s Chan says fiscal cuts are essential for Europe
Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief executive Norman Chan says Europe must make deep fiscal cuts to regain market confidence. Talks about macro-prudential regulation, the Hong Kong dollar peg and the internationalisation of the renminbi
Bank of Jamaica governor offers growth and inflation predictions
Brian Wynter predicts growth and inflation levels for fiscal year 2011-12; says unaltered monetary policy stance in last quarter was due to uncertainty both abroad and domestically
BoE minutes show two votes for greater QE
Minutes of latest Bank of England monetary policy meeting reveal two rate-setters wanted to see greater quantitative easing than the £50 billion that was settled on
Mixed market response as Greece deal is proposed
Regional stock indexes show different impact as eurozone agrees on more bail-out funds for Greece; price of gold edged higher as euro rose after news broke
Madagascan central bank staff revolt: reports
Angry central bankers stage a sit-in at the Central Bank of Madagascar to protest over the abrupt replacement of former governor Frederic Rasamoely
Bank of Japan adds to Tankan survey pool
Japanese central bank refreshes companies and financial institutions that make up the sample group for the influential survey; adds 102 enterprises and five financial institutions
New Norwegian coin commemorates Royal birthdays
Norges Bank reveals a commemorative silver coin to celebrate the birthdays of King Harald and Queen Sonja; profits from sale will go to charities
RBA retains scope for monetary easing
Minutes of the latest Monetary Policy Board meeting at the Reserve Bank of Australia shows members believe inflation outlook provides scope for a further easing of policy if situation worsens
EU leaders present plan for growth
EU member state leaders issue joint statement on restoring growth to the economy; all eyes on finance ministers’ meeting in Brussels