Opinion
Report recommends limited IMF gold sales
The report by the Committee of Eminent Persons released has recommended that the Fund sell 400 tonnes of its 3,217 tonnes of gold to finance an endowment fund.
Interview with SWIFT's Campos
In this recent interview with The Asian Banker, Lazaro Campos, head of the banking industry division at SWIFT says that SWIFT will become part of the domestic securities world before it picks up in payments.
Fed has yet to set target on inflation
According to this article from The New York Times, published Tuesday 30 January, as Ben Bernanke celebrates his first anniversary as Fed chairman, the US central bank is still far away from acting on his major proposal.
Europe's uneven growth challenge
According to this article on the Project Syndicate website, growth has become less evenly balanced throughout the eurozone with the resurgence in German growth.
The Bank of Japan's big mistake
According to this article by Stephen Roach, published on Friday 26 January by Money Week, the Bank of Japan has dealt a stunning blow to central bank independence.
ECB won't tolerate being a political football
According to this article from Reuters, published Wednesday 24 January, the European Central Bank has mounted its strongest defence so far against recent attacks on its independence from politicians.
Moskow sets retirement, leaving fourth Fed opening
This article published Monday 22 January by Bloomberg notes that Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago president Michael Moskow's departure will leave a fourth high-level opening at the central bank.
Why Oman pulled out of the single currency
According to this article from Gulf News, published Sunday 21 January, unique economic challenges mean that recent talk that the GCC monetary union is not necessarily possible could be right.
Why did the Bank of Japan freeze interest rates?
According to this article published by MoneyWeek on Monday 22 January, the Bank of Japan's decision last week to hold interest rates steady has unleashed a storm relating to its independence from political pressure.
Zimbabwe: Yet another challenging year for Gono
According to this recent article from the Financial Gazette, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono's turnaround efforts are likely to be gambled on short-term succession politics.
Europe's club of nations needs a rule change
According to this article by Zdenik Tma, governor of the Czech National Bank, first published by the Financial Times on 4 January, ERM-2 rules might have been perfectly legitimate in the past, but today they are outdated and -counter-productive.
Theater of the absurd surrounds BOJ's decision
According to this article from Bloomberg, published Wednesday 17 January, the Bank of Japan may be about to lose even more of the credibility is has worked to restore.
Kozlov's murder - the real story
Financing hundreds of thousands of illegal under-the-table deals requires huge sums of money. Every month, in Russia mountains of "black cash", are exchanged illegally behind the scenes. As long as this parallel system of financial settlement exists,…
Venezuela plans using reserves to nationalize
This article from Bloomberg, published Thursday 11 January, looks at the recent decision to use Venezuela's international reserves to compensate owners of the telephone, oil and power companies under President Hugo Chavez's plans to nationalize.
Unpredictable Bank fails in mission to be dull
According to this article from Reuters, published Thursday 11 January, the Bank of England is failing miserably in its quest to be boring.
A reassuring Reserve
According to this article from the Financial Times, published Thursday 11 January, the Federal Reserve's decision to halt its series of interest rate rises in June last year now looks to have been correct.
Balcerowicz exits NBP, legacy at risk
According to this article from Bloomberg, published Wednesday 10 January, as Leszek Balcerowicz steps down as governor of the National Bank of Poland at midnight Wednesday, government attempts to reduce its independence may tarnish his legacy.
China can do better than swap dollars for oil
This article published by Bloomberg on Tuesday 9 January asks why China couldn't earn more by shifting some of its reserves to high-yield investments instead of keeping all its money invested in hard- currency debt issued by foreign governments.
Inflation targeting fails in first yr in Turkey
According to this article published by the Turkish Daily News on Saturday 6 January, Turkey's long-awaited "inflation targeting" has failed in its first year, and there is a big chance it will be unsuccessful in 2007.
Barney Frank says no to narrowing Fed's mandate
According to this article from John Berry at Bloomberg, published Friday 5 January, the Federal Reserve received a reminder this week about how politically sensitive it would be to adopt an inflation target.
Central banks tiptoeing away from the dollar
According to this article from The New York Times published Tuesday 2 January, nations with large holdings of dollars are becoming increasingly willing to dump them in favour of the euro.
WAMZ members commit to single currency
According to this article from This Day, published Tuesday 2 January, West African Monetary Zone member countries have expressed commitment to move forwards to a single monetary zone by 2009.
Central banks will give less of the same in 2007
According to this article published by Bloomberg on Tuesday 26 December, current forecasts suggest there might be fewer changes in key central bank interest rates in 2007.
A huge blow to Thailand's financial credibility
According to this article from The Nation, published Friday 22 December, the Bank of Thailand and Finance Ministry have shot themselves in the foot this week.