Germany
ECB leaves interest rates unchanged
GERMANY - The European Central Bank (ECB) left eurozone interest rates unchanged, despite evidence of an economic slowdown.
Eichel supports ECB's Duisenberg
GERMANY - German Finance Minister Hans Eichel has lent his support to the European Central Bank's oft-criticized president, Wim Duisenberg, German business newspaper reported on 21 June.
Worries as German's remember 'wheelbarrow money'
GERMANY - A survey has revealed that more than half the population of Germany remain wary about the introduction of euro notes and coins fearing it will lead to price rises as retailers use the opportunity to round up prices following conversion into the…
ECB keeps interest rates on hold
EUROPE - The European Central Bank has maintained the key interest rate for the 12 countries within the eurozone at 4.5%.
Valery Giscard d'Estaing on the euro
EUROPE - One of the co-founders (with Helmut Schmidt of Germany) of the European Monetary System in 1978, former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing was in London yesterday to deliver the 21st Mais lecture at the City University.
"Wise man" calls for half-point ECB rate cut
GERMANY - One of Germany's senior economic advisers has said that the European Central Bank should cut interest rates by half a percentage point to help boost the economy.
Fabius backs ECB independence on monetary policy
FRANCE - The European Central Bank must and does set monetary policy independently, French Finance Minister Laurent Fabius said on 20 May, adding that he believed the bank was not indifferent to the downturn in global economic growth.
Inflation still main concern of ECB
GERMANY - European Central Bank council member Vitor Constancio said on 10 May that inflation still remained the bank's main concern.
Supereconomies face clashes
EUROPE - Central bank politics is assuming an intriguing role in attempted reversal of the slowdown of the US economy and spreading effects on other parts of the world.
Making EMU Work: Some Lessons from the 1990s
ARTICLE - Jorg Bibow lectures at the University of Hamburg on central banking and European integration. This working paper investigates the lessons learned from Europe's convergence process of the 1990s.
Germany cuts growth forecast
GERMANY - The German government has joined its European neighbours by slashing its growth forecasts. Economic expansion in Europe's largest economy is expected to be only 2% in 2001, 0.75% less than previously forecast.
US is wrong to browbeat the ECB into cutting rates
GERMANY - America is wrong to try to browbeat the European Central Bank into cutting interest rates "I hear but I do not listen," remains the response of Wim Duisenberg, president of the European Central Bank, to the clamour for lower interest rates.
Euro rates held steady
EUROPE - The European Central Bank has decided to leave interest rates unchanged after a scheduled board meeting in Frankfurt on Apr 26.
IMF's Koehler says he didn't intend to pressure EC
GERMANY - International Monetary Fund Managing Director Horst Koehler said he had never intended to put pressure on the European Central Bank to cut rates, but reiterated that a cut would help world and European growth.
Inflation fears lower rate cut hopes
EUROPE - Prospects for an early reduction in interest rates by the European Central Bank receded further yesterday as higher than expected German inflation figures were announced.
Ageing and financial stability
ARTICLE - Population ageing might involve major shifts in financing, which may give rise to financial turbulence and systemic risk. Philip Davis, professor of economics at Brunel University, has prepared a paper on this subject for a Bundesbank…
Eichel sets out vision for financial regulation
GERMANY - The German finance ministry unveiled on Apr 11 draft legislation to shake up the structure of the country's central bank and supervisory agencies in response to the arrival of the euro and changes in financial markets.
ECB cannot stop stocks from falling-Buba's Welteke
EUROPE- The European Central Bank can do nothing to counter plunging stock prices, Bundesbank president Ernst Welteke said in an interview with the German radio station Deutschlandfunk.
Financial competition, risk and accountability
BOOK - A new book has just been published by Palgrave "Financial Competition, Risk and Accountability: British and German Experiences" edited by Frowen and McHugh. Recent decades have seen a sharp increase in financial competition and excessive risk…
ECB's Liebscher calls for c.bank supervisory role
SPEECH - ECB council member Klaus Liebscher called for Europe's national central banks to continue to play a key role in banking supervision, saying their close contact with commercial banks helped to prevent crises.
ECB plans statement on banking supervision - paper
The European Central Bank plans to issue an official warning to governments not to curb the role of central banks in banking supervision, a German newspaper reported on Mar 14, 2001.
Gemany's Hans Eichel's shock to the system-article
The decision of Hans Eichel, the German finance minister, to establish a unifiedfinancial services regulator came as a surprise to many, and a bitter shock to theBundesbank, which had lobbied to take over bank supervision itself. KlausEngelen reports.
Berlin cbank president opposes ECB rate cut-paper
The European Central Bank shouldn't move to cut interest rates before euro-zone inflation reaches 2.2%, Landeszentralbank president Klaus-Dieter Kuehbacher said in an interview.
ECB official attacks German bank supervisor revamp
European Central Bank Directorate Member Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa was reported on Mar 4, 2001 as reiterating the ECB's objections to German government plans to strip the Bundesbank of its banking watchdog duties.