United Kingdom
'Foreign Exchange Reserves Management'-John Nugee
The Centre for Central Banking Studies at the Bank of England has recently published a handbook on "Foreign Exchange Reserve Management" written by John Nugee who at the time was head of reserve management at the Bank. This is one of the few…
UK MPC voted unaminously for Feb rate cut-minutes
Minutes of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee meeting in early February 2001 showed all nine members backed the cut to 5.75 percent, with some seeing a case for a half point reduction in borrowing costs.
BoE pressed to publish dissent on forecasts
Pressure is mounting on the Bank of England to make its inflation forecasts more transparent despite recent attempts by the central bank to make public the divergent views of its policymakers. The Bank's quarterly inflation forecast is closely watched by…
BoE's George says may have to pen inflation letter
Bank of England Governor Sir Edward George said on Feb 17, 2001 it was possible inflation in Britain would stray a full point away from its target, meaning he would have to write to the government explaining why. UK inflation currently stands at its…
British public see EMU membership as inevitable
According to a new poll reported by GrahamBishop.com, the British public sees EMU membership as inevitable by 2010 and the government is expected to take the lead on pushing for the benefits of EMU participation. The report also contends there has been a…
Interview: Charles Goodhart
In a wide-ranging interview, Professor Charles Goodhart gives his views on the main challenges facing central banks today: output gap forecasting and productivity shifts, and the role of asset prices and the exchange rate in monetary policy. He also…
Interview: BoE's MPC member Sushil Wadhwani
Sushil Wadhwani, an "external" member of the monetary policy committee of the Bank of England, explains why he is a "productivity optimist". Over the last decade, forecasters have systematically underestimated GDP growth in the UK and simultaneously…
Prodi says Britain will lose influence outside eur
European Commission President Romano Prodi warned Britain on Feb 15, 2001 it would lose control over its economy if it remained outside the euro. Challenging the widespread fear in Britain that signing up to the euro would entail a major surrender of…
Bank of England expects growth to slow in Q2 2001
The United Kingdom's annual growth rate will drop to around 2% in the second half of 2001, the Bank of England projected, even as unemployment data showed the number of jobless Britons fell far more than expected in January 2001. In its first quarterly…
BoE's forecast confirms loosening stance
The Bank of England's February 2001 inflation report confirmed marketexpectations that UK interest rates were likely to head down over thecourse of 2001. Mervyn King, deputy governor for monetary stability, who presented thereport despite a bout of flu,…
Bank of England cuts rates by 0.25%
The Bank of England has cut its key UK interest rate by 0.25% to 5.75%. It is the first cut for nearly two years. The decision, announced at noon in London on Feb 8, 2001, followed the latest two day monthly meeting of the Bank of England's Monetary…
EX-MPC members say BoE helped by benign inflation
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee has benefited from a benign inflation climate, according to two top economists who used to sit on the committee. Since the central bank won its independence from government in 1997, the MPC has consistently…
IMF warns on UK's euro plight
Britain's record as a high inflation country meant that the price of joining the single currency would be higher taxes or curbs on public spending, the International Monetary Fund warned on Feb. 6.Fuelling the intense political row over the euro, the…
Goodhart: George should control inflation forecast
The governor of the Bank of England should take full control of the Inflation Report - the central bank's flagship economic forecast - to avoid confusion arising from the disparate input from the nine members of the Monetary Policy Committee, London…
Vacancies on the Court of the Bank of England
The following is a press release issue by the UK Treasury advertising vacancies in the Court of the Bank of England. The Court has a key role in reviewing the performance of the Monetary Policy Committee and managing the affairs of the Bank of England.
UK's CrestCo goes electronic
London's international settlement house, CrestCo, is proposing to take the risk and cost of errors out of processing takeovers in the UK by replacing the paper form-filling with an electronic process. The proposals for Takeover Procedures in Crest,…
UK's MPC voted 5-4 to leave rates steady in Jan
Britain's central bank was split almost down the middle over whether to cut interest rates this month, with five of the nine members voting to leave rates steady at 6.0 percent while four wanted to lower borrowing costs. The Bank of England's chief…
U.S. slowdown to hit Britain-BoE's George
Bank of England governor Eddie George has warned that fallout from an economic slowdown in the United States will affect Britain in 2001 but will not bring a "nightmare scenario", the BBC said on Dec. 29, 2000.
UK's MPC split 7-2 for steady rates in Dec
Britain's central Bank was split 7-2 in favour of leaving interest rates unchanged at 6.0% earlier this month, minutes of the meeting showed on Wednesday.
UK govt climbdown on payment system regulation
The UK government on Wednesday dropped plans for a new banking regulator to monitor the payments system, and handed responsibility to the Office of Fair Trading, which has general responsibilities for promoting competition.
BoE article on oversight of payment systems
The Bank of England's paper on the oversight of payment systems is published in its latest Financial Stability Review.