Opinion
Svein Gjedrem - Monetary policy in 2002
In an article in Finansavisen on "Monetary policy in 2002" Norges Bank governor Svein Gjedrem said growth forecasts for the world economy deteriorated further from late autumn. The appreciation of the krone continued. At the same time the outlook for the…
IIF calls for economic policy co-ordination
An article in the Financial Times called on the ECB to cut interest rates "by at least 1 percentage point" at its meeting on Thursday 3 April. The ECB should take a decisive lead, it says, to put the global economy back on track. [The ECB declined to…
Taiwan's cb fights SARS
The China Post in Taiwan has provided more details of the unusual cure Taiwan's central bank chief has proposed for the deadly disease Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
UK financial services regulation needs overhaul
An article in the Financial times suggests that financial regulation is a balancing act. On the one hand too tough an approach may reduce London's position as a major financial centre, but on the other hand a laissez faire attitude will bring criticism…
Ex-BoJ Kanno expects action from Fukui
In an interview with Dow Jones, ex-Bank of Japan official Masaaki Kanno said rather than increase the BOJ's account balance target to shake-off deflation the BOJ's new governor Toshihiko Fukui will focus more on ways to make sure that money injected by…
Complexities of Basle 2
An article in the Financial Times reports that the Basle bank capital accord is being stifled by complexity. Though central bankers and supervisors have worked hard on Basle 2, a US decision to apply the standard to a mere handful of banks has revived a…
Should central banks buy wider range of assets?
An article in the Financial Times on March 28 asks the question many have recently posed. Have central banks run out of ammunition? The fire power in question is of course interest rates as a monetary policy tool. Rates have hit the floor in Japan and…
Interview with Costa Rica's central bank chief
In an interview reported by Reuters, Costa Rica's central bank president Francisco de Paula Gutierrez said that cutting the country's fiscal deficit was a challenge, but he said he expected Costa Rica would meet a government deficit target of 3 percent…
Economic Consequences of The Iraq War
In this article David Hale looks at the economic consequences of the war in Iraq. He says that although markets will rally on positive news of the conflict, in the longer term how the US deals with large fiscal deficits and unprecedented current account…
CentralBankNet Monday Special Feature
SPECIAL FEATURE - Ernesto Savona, professor of law and criminology at the Catholic University of Sacro Cuore of Milan, recently gave an exclusive interview to The Financial Regulator journal. In the interview he said that a political decision to stamp…
Fukui taking charge
ARTICLE - This article looks at some of the pressures that will face the new governor of the Bank of Japan as he begins his term. As Toshihiko Fukui takes the BOJ helm, he faces an even more difficult economic situation than that confronted by Hayami,…
Can Fukui pull isolated BOJ in from the cold?
ARTICLE - This article asks whether Fukui will tread his own monetary policy path in an effort to rid Japan of deflation and adopt unorthodox measures which Masaru Hayami steadfastly resisted.
Interview - President of Central Bank of Ecuador
INTERVIEW - In a recent interview Mauricio Yepez, president of Ecuador's central bank, spoke of the technical missions to Ecuador by the IMF and other institutions. He said Ecuador expects to get 100m US dollars from the IADB later this year and a first…
Interview with former governor - Iraq central bank
INTERVIEW - Salah al-Shaikhly was a Governor of the Iraqi Central Bank in the early 1970s. In an interview published by Reuters on Wednesday March 19, he told how Saddam Hussein's regime had ruined the Iraqi economy running up a debt of US$ 112bn. He…
Good times - so far - for Meirelles in Brazil
Henrique Meirelles, who took over as governor of the Central Bank of Brazil in January, discusses with the Financial Times the changes from his time on Wall Street to spearheading monetary reform in Brazil. Though the monetary policy medicine appears to…
Plenty monetary policy measures in reserve
Central banks have plenty of monetary policy ammunition left, says Stephen Cecchetti in the Financial Times. Even when rates hit zero central banks can make use of "contingency plans" involving unorthodox monetary operations.
Fed should hold
The uncertainty over the impending war in Iraq and the Fed's diminishing policy options mean that, despite weak data, a wait-and-see is the strategy for the open market committee, which meets tomorrow, argues the FT's editorial.
How much gold will the central banks sell?
MONDAY FEATURE - Until recently there was a widespread expectation that central banks would continue to unload gold from their reserves on quite a large scale for many years to come. But this assumption is now being called into question. What is the…
IMF independence
An article in the Financial Times considers a speech made by Ed Balls, the UK Treasury's chief economic adviser, in Washington last week. He argued that the IMF should be independent along the same lines as an independent central bank. This would…
European banks agree crisis rules
The European Central Bank, according to an article in Business World, said on Monday that a set of rules had been agreed between EU banking regulators and central banks to deal with financial crises. The framework will deal with preventing a financial or…
Vintage ECB
FEATURE - Reports that certain ECB policy makers weren't exactly seeing eye to eye inspired a question to Lucas Papademos on the subject at Thursday's press conference. The answer did not reveal much, apart from the ECB's choice of wine at the top table,…
Dissent inside the Eurotower
ARTICLE - This article suggests that even if the ECB cuts interest rates on Thursday, the move will do little to satisfy critics pressing for a reappraisal of the bank's policymaking framework. The article suggests tensions between key ECB officials…
Background on Kenya's new central bank head
FEATURE - The new Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), Dr Andrew Mulei, is currently the Executive Director of the African Centre for Economic Growth. This feature provides some background details on the new CBK chief.
St. Louis Fed wears many banking hats
ARTICLE - This article takes a look inside the St Louis Federal Reserve Bank and examines its operations including payment systems.