News
SARB's easing cycle accelerates
The South African Reserve Bank cut its key rate by 100 basis points on Thursday following a 50 basis-point cut in January.
Growth fears outweigh depreciation threat for CNB
The Czech National Bank (CNB) has cut its key interest rate to 1.75%, the lowest level in more than three years, in an attempt to stave off recession despite concerns about koruna's weakening.
Richmond Fed's Charlotte office gets new head
Matthew Martin, an economist at the Richmond Federal Reserve, has been promoted to the role of senior vice president responsible for the Fed's Charlotte branch.
Kazakhstan devalues tenge by 18%
The National Bank of Kazakhstan has allowed the tenge's value to fall by almost a fifth against the greenback by substantially devaluing the currency's dollar peg.
SocGen losses cost Central Africa $584m - report
The Bank of Central African States has lost about $584m on investments made through Societe Generale, a bank, a senior official has reportedly said.
UK edges towards bad-bank solution
Britain is considering adopting the bad bank model to buy toxic assets a little over a fortnight after London announced plans to guarantee banks' bad debt.
Norway sees deeper, longer downturn ahead
Norges Bank shaved half a point off its key rate on signs the downturn could be deeper and last longer than previously expected.
Riksbank upgrades payments system
The Riksbank is to move to a new technology system and platform for RIX, the central bank's funds transfer system.
Report cautions on dangers of free capital flows
Dogmatic adherence to the doctrine of free capital flows is misguided and potentially dangerous, a new study from the Committee on the Global Financial System, a collective of central bankers from across the globe, warns.
New Icelandic PM calls for the governors' heads
Iceland's new prime minister has asked the central bank's three governors to step down.
SA's new CPI gauge trims inflation by 0.9pp
The new method of calculating South African headline inflation would have trimmed nine-tenths of a percentage point off the December measure, the government's statistics bureau said on Tuesday.
Australia slashes on signs of flagging demand
The Reserve Bank of Australia cut rates by a full percentage point for the second time in as many votes on Tuesday, saying that a dip in confidence was impacting demand.
Crisis demands a common voice: UK's McFall
John McFall, the chairman of Britain's Treasury Committee, tells CentralBankNews.com why the financial crisis means central bankers will have to change the way they speak.
Riksbank appoints new deputy
Karolina Ekholm, a professor at Stockholm University, is to succeed Irma Rosenberg as deputy governor of the Riksbank.
SNB offers dollar-denominated bills for UBS loan
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) announced on Monday that it will issue its own bills denominated in dollars.
Barbados' Williams warns storm brewing offshore
The chances that Barbados's economy will shrink in 2009 have intensified with the declining economic fortunes abroad, admitted Marion Williams, the governor of the country's central bank.
Zimbabwe lops zeros off currency, again
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has chopped 12 zeroes off the Zimbabwean dollar in its latest attempt to curb hyperinflation.
Harare abandons Zim dollar for foreign currencies
The Zimbabwean government has said that it will allow businesses to accept multiple currencies alongside the effectively worthless Zimbabwean dollar.
Eurozone, Japanese inflation sink
Eurozone annual inflation fell to its lowest level since 1999 in January as data revealed price growth in Japan came to a near standstill in 2008.
Trichet urges markets to drop focus on capital
Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank, has urged markets to abandon their fixation with banks' capital ratios, saying that officials were against raising requirements.
Philippines cuts again as inflation abates
The Central Bank of the Philippines cut rates by half a point for the second month in a row on Friday, citing a shift in the inflation outlook.
Economists' forum launches crisis blog
VoxEU.org, an online forum set up by the Centre for Economic Policy Research, has launched a blog on the global financial crisis.
NZ makes another mammoth cut, rates hit fresh low
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand slashed its benchmark official cash rate by 150 basis points to a new all-time low of 3.5% on Thursday and signalled it could cut again in the coming months.
Orphanides comments highlight ECB divide
Comments by the governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus on Wednesday underlined the split between members of the European Central Bank's (ECB) Governing Council on whether eurozone interest rates should fall to zero.