News
Big reserve holders in Asia
The president of the Asian Development Bank, Haruhiko Kuroda, told Dow Jones newswires yesterday that "emerging economies in Asia are well advised to decelerate the accumulation of foreign exchange reserves". "Many of them have more than enough", he said.
Geopolitics boost gold - Greenspan
Recently retired US Federal Reserve chariman, Alan Greenspan, is reported to have attributed high gold prices to investor concerns over major geopolitical conflicts and not a reflection of inflation worries.
Palestian transfers can continue - Fischer
The governor of the Bank of Israel, Stanley Fischer, has said Israel can still have economic ties with the Palestinians after Hamas takes over, provided the Islamic militants do not resume attacks on Israel.
Israeli CB deputies to go
The two deputy governors of the Bank of Israel, Meir Sokoler and Avia Spivak, will retire from the central bank at the end of the month. The governor of the Bank of Israel, Stanley Fischer, informed the Israeli Minister of Finance of the move earlier…
Australian rates unchanged
The Reserve Bank of Australia yesterday left the overnight cash rate at 5.5%, following its first interest rate meeting of the year. Australia is in the midst of its most stable economic period in three decades, with only one change in monetary policy in…
Emerging market reserves grow in January
Recent data show significant increases in foreign exchange reserves in a number of emerging market economies in January. The Philippines gross international reserves hit an all-time high of $20.504 billion at the end of January on fresh government…
Chinese interest rate reform
The People's Bank of China will continue reforms this year to make interest rates more market oriented, the central bank-backed Financial News said in a front-page editorial on 8 February.
Translation backlogs could delay Basel II
Delays in translating new banking rules into the European Union's 20 official languages must not jeopardise the introduction of the changes, a senior banking regulator said on Wednesday, 8 February.
Italy welcomes bank merger
Le Figaro reported yesterday that the Italian government has welcomed the takeover bid for BNL, the country's sixth-largest bank, by French banking group BNP Paribas. The paper quoted Italian finance minister, Giulio Tremonti, as saying he regards it as…
Germany to issue inflation-linked bonds
The German government plans to issue inflation-linked bonds this year, but is hoping for an uptick in inflation expectations to time the sale Gerhard Schleif, the head of the nation's debt agency, told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview yesterday.
Indonesian rates on hold
The Central Bank of Indonesia yesterday left interest rates unchanged at 12.75% for a second month, as economic growth slowed down. Six interest rate increases since July have helped the rupiah recover from a four-year low on August 30 last year amid…
FATF to look at Russian banks
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental anti money laundering body, plans to carry out a large-scale check on the Russian banking system in April 2007, Russian Central Bank deputy chairman Viktor Melnikov said earlier this week.
German gold debate rages on
The debate in Germany about the Bundesbank's gold reserves and salary bonuses is continuing.
Counterfeit notes in Solomon Islands
The Central Bank of Solomon Islands has reported the circulation of counterfeit notes throughout the country's banking system. The central bank's currency and operations manager, Daniel Haridi told the national broadcaster that it is hard to say how many…
IMF survey
The new IMF survey includes an overview of the recent reshuffling of the Fund's financial sector department. IMF Managing Director, Rodrigo de Rato, announced plans to create a new department on February 1, 2006.
CBK warns illegal lenders
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has issued a statement giving sham microfinance institutions until May to clean up their act or face legal action.
SARB's Mboweni highlights inflation risks
The South African Reserve Bank last week left the repurchase rate unchanged at 7%, but governor, Tito Mboweni, cautioning that robust domestic demand together with oil and food prices posed potential risks to the inflation outlook.
Slovenians happy with Commission's findings
The Slovenia's finance minister and central bank have expressed their satisfaction with the European Commission's upbeat assessment of the country's preparations for joining the euro.
More hikes ahead - Sweden's Ingves
New Swedish central bank governor, Stefan Ingves, said on Monday 6 February that he expected a continued gradual increase in interest rates. The speech, given at Umea University, was Ingves' first public appearance since his appointment at the start of…
New conflict over Bundesbank bonus cuts
The new spat between the German finance ministry and the Bundesbank has developed over cuts in the compensation schemes of the central bank's staff.
BoJ to implement next-generation RTGS project
The Bank of Japan said Friday it has decided to implement the next-generation real-time gross settlement (RTGS-XG) project.
IMF plans to strengthen financial market work
Rodrigo de Rato, Managing Director of the IMF announced proposals on Wednesday 1 February to strengthen the Fund's financial and capital market work by creating a new department that will be a center of excellence for all aspects of financial, capital…
Deutsche Bundesbank adopts SwiftNet FileAct
According to a report on Finextra.com, Deutsche Bundesbank is to adopt SwiftNet FileAct to begin standardizing its communications system for low value payments, bringing its branches in line with Germany's national Real Time Gross Settlement as it…
Doha conference calls for regional central bank
A two-day conference on enriching the economics of the Middle East region, held in Doha this week, ended with a call for the creation of a regional central bank.