Central Banking
Global Financial Stability Report - Caruana speech
In this webcast, Jaime Caruana, the director of the monetary and capital markets department of the International Monetary Fund, discusses the main findings of the Fund's April 2007 Global Financial Stability Report.
New Zealand raises official cash rate
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has raised its official cash rate (OCR) by 25 basis points to 8.25%, while indicating that further rises may not be necessary.
Czech National Bank raises rates
As widely expected the Czech National Bank (CNB) today raised its main interest rate by 25 basis points to 3% in an ongoing rate tightening cycle.
Kuwait lets dinar appreciate further
The Central Bank of Kuwait has allowed its currency, the dinar, to appreciate against the dollar for the third time in two months. The dinar subsequently appreciated by 1.7%.
Unexpected rise in eurozone money supply
Data from the European Central Bank (ECB) released today showed a surprise jump in M3 money supply in the eurozone and loans to the private sector.
Fund raises 2007 and 2008 growth forecast
The July update of the World Economic Outlook (WEO) published on 25 July by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) increased the Fund forecast for global economic growth for 2007 and 2008 to 5.2%, from 4.9%.
Fed's role in output volatility
This working paper by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago examines the contribution of monetary policy to the drop in the volatility of output fluctuations in the United States. The author finds that in three periods in particular - the 1960's, 1976 to…
Macao - annual report 2006
Improved economic performance saw the island's credit rating lifted from stable to positive, notes the central bank's annual report.
Dr Zeti on building Malaysia's banks
Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, the governor of Malaysia's central bank, sets out how Malaysia's banking system must look to develop amidst a changing financial landscape.
ECB Monthly Bulletin - July
An article interpreting monetary developments in the eurozone since mid-2004 is a timely addition to July's bulletin which shows M3 growth surging above 10% on all measures.
Polish rates stay at 4.5% as expected
Poland's central bank kept interest rates unchanged at its meeting on 25 July. The halt in monetary tightening comes after two rises in the three previous months raised rates to 4.5%.
Singapore's central bank profits more than tripled
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country's central bank, announced on 25 July that its profits more than tripled in the fiscal year through March 2007. This huge increase was due to higher interest payments and gains from asset markets that…
Bank of Italy orders Italease managers to resign
Two senior managers of Banca Italease SpA, a Milan-based leasing company, have been ordered by the Bank of Italy to resign. The central bank said that the company needs to raise capital after it had to spend € 610m ($843m) on unwinding derivatives bets…
Malaysian central bank leaves key rate unchanged
The central bank of Malaysia, Bank Negara Malaysia, has left interest rates unchanged at 3.5%. The decision had been widely expected as inflation has eased substantially to 1.4% in June, after averaging 2% in the first six months of this year.
Bank of Netherlands Antilles to be investigated
The financial supervision exercised by the Bank of the Netherlands Antilles (BNA) is to be checked once more by the Dutch Financial Market Authority (AFM). Last month it was announced that the AFM had found the BNA to be seriously lacking in its…
South African inflation remains well above target
Inflation in South Africa remained well above the central bank's target for inflation in June. It was the third consecutive month that inflation, as measured by the central bank's target measure CPIX index, breached the South African Reserve Bank's (SARB…
Ingves on how to regulate cross-border banks
Stefan Ingves, the governor of the Riksbank, set out the challenges authorities face in regulating increasingly integrated financial markets.
Introducing Islamic banks - IMF paper
This paper looks at how Islamic financial institutions have been introduced in "conventional" financial systems.
Post-bubble monetary policy in Japan - paper
A new paper from the Bank of Japan's IMES looks at the the monetary-poicy decsions made in the 1990s as Japan's economy reeled from collapses in propoerty and stock prices.
Gieve warns of losing inflation battle
John Gieve, a deputy governor at the Bank of England, has warned that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) could lose the battle against inflation if it took a more gradual approach to raising interest rates.
India proposes regulation of moneylenders
A panel set up by the Reserve Bank of India, the country's central bank, has published proposals for legislation which would regulate unauthorised moneylenders. These can charge annual interest rates of up to 150% to farmers and other borrowers.
Nepal's cb outlines policy strategy
The Nepal Rastra Bank, the country's central bank, has published details of its policy strategy for the current fiscal year. The central bank says policy will aim to keep inflation under 5% without any change in the compulsory cash ration or the bank…
Malaysia leaves overnight rate unchanged
The monetary policy committee of Bank Negara Malaysia, the country's central bank, announced today that it has left its overnight policy rate unchanged at 3.5%.
Monetary policy announcement delayed by Zimbabwe
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has announced that it is indefinitely postponing its mid-year monetary policy statement, originally due next week. The central bank said it needed more time to analyse the implications of price controls imposed by the…