Central Banking
Bank of Albania - Annual Report 2007
Albania's economy grew by 6% in 2007, supported by high foreign direct investment, reveals the Bank of Albania's latest annual report.
Eurozone inflation hits fresh record
Annual inflation in the eurozone looks to have hit a record high of 4.1% in July.
Fed a "major culprit" in commodity inflation
A prominent US economist has blamed Federal Reserve policy for the surge in commodity prices.
UK MPC hawk acting on 70s memories
Tim Besley, the only member of the Bank of England's nine-strong Monetary Policy Committee to back a rate hike this month, voted against the majority on fears that UK inflation could become as volatile as it was in the 1970s.
Philly Fed payments VP wins promotion
Arun Jain, a vice president at the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's retail payments department, will become a senior vice president after nearly 30 years of working within the Fed system.
NZ's Bollard praises inflation targeting
There are no clearly superior alternatives to the flexible inflation targeting approach for maintaining price stability, said Alan Bollard, the governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.
Wage stagnation key source of poverty
Policies to address wages for workers at the lower end of the pay scale should be at the core of anti-poverty efforts in New York City, finds a new paper from the New York Federal Reserve.
Asian inflation to stay high
Inflation in Asian countries will remain high over the medium term due to rising oil prices and a persistent shortage of skilled labour, says new research from Deutsche Bank.
Korean growth slows
Korea's economy slowed in June as the pace of CPI inflation picked up. The increase in the CPI was mainly due to high oil prices, said the Bank of Korea in its second quarterly bulletin for 2008.
Fed pledges to extend aid measures into 2009
The Federal Reserve moved to soothe financial market tensions on Wednesday with a fresh batch of liquidity measures, including confirmation that it will allow investment banks to borrow from its discount window into next year.
Zimbabwe lops ten zeros off currency
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe announced plans to remove ten zeros from its currency in a fresh bid to fight hyperinflation.
Bangkok names new central bank board
The Thai government has appointed a new central bank board.
Obama talks crunch and regulation with Bernanke
Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, has discussed the credit crisis and proposals for more stringent financial regulation with Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate for the US president.
Canada names Toronto director
Mark Caplan, an executive managing director at BMO Financial, a financial services company, will join the Bank of Canada as a senior representative and director of its Toronto office.
RBI moves to counter "intolerable" inflation
The Reserve Bank of India looked to assert its inflation-fighting credentials on Tuesday, raising its policy rate and reserve ratio, and warning of regulatory action if financial institutions continue to lend excessively.
Russia cuts back on Fannie and Freddie paper
The Central Bank of Russia has markedly reduced its holdings of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac paper since the start of the year, a senior official confirmed on Monday.
Inflation and fiscal deficit force Pakistan to act
The State Bank of Pakistan has raised its benchmark rate by a full percentage point to 13% in a bid to combat rampant inflation, and a worsening fiscal deficit.
OECD inflation soars to eight-year high
CPI inflation in the 30 countries that comprise the OECD surged to its highest level since March 2000 in the year to June, data published Tuesday revealed.
IMF sticks with $1 trillion write-down estimate
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Monday it was standing by its estimate that subprime write-downs would end up totalling something close to $1 trillion despite research by the Bank of England suggesting that losses would be a lot lower.
Shirakawa: consider cross-border collateral
Central banks should consider expanding their operation in terms of providing credit through cross-border collateral, said Masaaki Shirakawa, the governor of the Bank of Japan.
Australia's banks bulk up bonds
Australian banks increased their bond issuance in the first half of 2008 partly as precaution in case of the global financial turmoil worsening, said Guy Debelle, an assistant director of the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Why South Africa avoided the crunch
South African banks have been mostly insulated from the global turmoil as the banking sector has had no direct exposure to the subprime mortgage market, reports the South African Reserve Bank's bank supervision department.
Czech financial assets growth sluggish
Growth in the total financial assets in the Czech economy dipped in the first quarter of 2008 to 1%, according to a quarterly financial accounts report from the Czech National Bank.
Inflation too high - Fed's Plosser
Inflation is already too high and inconsistent with the Federal Reserve's goal of price stability, said Charles Plosser, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.