United Kingdom
In search of King's defence
Two articles published Thursday reflected on the Bank of England's last MPC meeting which saw the governor outvoted for the first time. One says the UK's "boring" monetary policy just got a whole lot more interesting, noting that heavyweight Charlie Bean…
Comment: Views on King's gambit
Here is a roundup comments on the Bank of England's publication of the minutes of the latest MPC meeting, which revealed that, for the first time in the committee's history, the governor voted with the minority (see yesterday's CentralBankNet).
Bank of England MPC Minutes, 3 & 4 August
The minutes from the 3 & 4 August meeting of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee published on Wednesday 17 August showed governor Mervyn King and three other top officials voted against this month's decision by the nine member MPC to cut…
Comment:Test for Mervyn King's communication skill
What does yesterday's revelation that the top brass of the Bank of England's MPC were outvoted at August's monetary policy meeting imply for the market's view of future interest movements in the UK? And what does it tell us about the institutional set-up…
Bank of England needs to re-examine its forecasts
This article published on Wednesday 10 August says that the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee is under great pressure to get its forecasts right. It asks whether it's possible we are too reverential when it comes to the Bank's projections.
Bank of England Inflation Report, August 2005
The Bank of England published its August 2005 Inflation Report on 10 August. In the report the Bank said the UK's growth outlook has weakened slightly in the near term, pulled down by sluggish consumer spending.
Doubts on Bank of England's forecasting
Nobody could say that Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, was defensive at yesterday's press conference on the latest Inflation Report (who has ever seen Mervyn on the defensive?), but he certainly knew he had some explaining to do.
Why interest rates could plunge as low as 3.5%
The 6th May 1997 is a date that is burnt into the minds of Bank of England employees, according to this article published on Monday 8 August. Since being granted its independence, the Bank has built up an eight-year track record of independent thought…
Bank of England reduces rates by 0.25%
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted on Thursday 4 August to reduce the Bank's repo rate by 0.25 percentage points to 4.5%.
Bank of England set to cut interest rates
The Bank of England is widely expected to reduce UK interest rates when it concludes its 100th Monetary Policy Committee meeting on Thursday 4 August.
Dallas Fed's Fisher on the world economy
In the speech 'The world economy: Sharpening our peripheral vision' given on 29 July, Richard Fisher of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas said China's growing role in the global economy presented challenges to the United States, but that the U.S…
BoE's Large fuels rate cut talk
Bank of England policy maker Andrew Large gave an interview on Wednesday 27 July which is likely to fuel expectations that UK interest rates would fall next week for the first time in two years.
Bank of England MPC Minutes, 6 & 7 July
The minutes from the 6 & 7 July meeting of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee published on Wednesday 20 July showed policy makers voted 5-4 to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4.75%.
EU regulator warns bank chiefs over consolidation
One of the European Union's most senior banking supervisors has warned against interference in the consolidation of the continent's banking industry.
UK's Brown expects ECB inflation target debate
UK chancellor Gordon Brown, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, told the European Parliament that debate over the European Central Bank's inflation target is to be expected.
Central bankers stand on the front line
This article looks at the response of central banks to terrorist attacks. It says that an interest rate cut by the Bank of England last week when the chaos was at its peak, might have added to the sense of panic.
BoE paper: Bank loans versus bond finance
This Bank of England Working Paper published on 11 July develops a model to analyse the optimal choice between bank loans and bond finance for a sovereign debtor.
Rodrigo de Rato's condolences to UK
Rodrigo de Rato, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), made a statement on Thursday 7 July in Gleneagles, Scotland following the bombings in London.
Bank of England maintains interest rates at 4.75%
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted to maintain the Bank's repo rate at 4.75% on Thursday 7 July.
Trichet's deep sympathy at London bomb blasts
European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet said on Thursday 7 July that he does not expect the multiple bomb blasts in London to have any significant impact on the euro zone or UK economies.
Bank of England meeting held despite attacks
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee would announce its interest rate decision at midday as usual despite multiple blasts on London's transport network, a spokesman for the central bank said on Thursday morning, 7 July.
G7 monitoring reaction to London blasts - Eichel
Finance Ministers and central bank governors from the Group of Seven (G7) nations are monitoring the reaction of financial markets to the blasts in London, German Finance Minister Hans Eichel said on Thursday 7 July.
Paper: MPC inflation targeting and decision making
This paper published June 2005 considers decision making in the Bank of England's MPC. It finds there are identifiable forms of heterogeneity among members of the committee that improves the predictability of interest rate changes.
Bank of England Financial Stability Review, Jun 05
The Bank of England published its latest Financial Stability Review for June 2005 on Monday 27 June. Near-term risks to the UK financial sector from default by households, firms and overseas borrowers have remained low since the December Review, the…