Central Banking
April rate hike not too late - BOJ minutes
One of the Bank of Japan's nine policy board members called on the central bank to be cautious about hiking interest rates in light of slow wage growth and sluggish consumption, the minutes of the BoJ's Feb 20-21 meeting released Monday 26 March showed.
BOJ's Fukui repeats to hike rates slowly
Bank of Japan governor Toshihiko Fukui told lawmakers Monday 26 March that the central bank will maintain its accommodative monetary policy stance for now by raising interest rates only slowly.
Karvalits says Hungary can reach CPI goal
The Hungarian central bank's (NBH) medium-term inflation goal can be reached even at an exchange rate weaker than the current one, Ferenc Karvalits, nominated as deputy governor said on Monday 26 March.
RBZ's Gono warns on parallel market forces
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Dr Gideon Gono warned Thursday 22 March of the existence of "stronger forces" on the parallel market that are fuelling the slide of the Zimbabwe dollar against major currencies.
Gaspari says eurozone inflation under control
Outgoing European Central Bank council member Mitja Gaspari said in an interview published Friday 23 March inflation in the 13 euro nations is ``under control'' and it's not yet time to talk about further interest-rate increases.
SNB's Jordan says hikes less pressing
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) currently sees further rate hikes as necessary to keep inflation at bay, while indicating the need for action has become smaller, the central bank's directorate member Thomas Jordan said in a speech Thursday 22 March.
Japan's Omi says land prices don't indicate bubble
Japan's rising land prices reflect the country's economic recovery and don't indicate an asset bubble, finance minister Koji Omi said Friday 23 March.
India not ready for sustained growth?
According to an article from The Financial Express, 'YVR not ready for sustained growth?', published on Sunday 18 March, India has never had it so good, but current growth levels may not last too long.
Fed's Kohn on asset-pricing puzzles, credit risk
In the speech 'Asset-pricing puzzles, credit risk, and credit derivatives' given on 22 March Donald Kohn of the Federal Reserve said credit derivatives may reduce long-run risk premiums for stocks and bonds by helping markets share risks more evenly.
Fed's Kroszner on innovations in credit markets
In the speech 'Recent innovations in credit markets' given on 22 March Randall Kroszner of the Federal Reserve said fast-growing credit derivative markets have helped spread risks more widely but have not made them disappear.
Jenkins on the Canadian economy
In a speech given on 22 March Paul Jenkins of the Bank of Canada said sound fiscal policy and debt reduction have contributed to a stable domestic economy.
Bank Negara Malaysia - Annual Report 2006
According to the Bank Negara Malaysia's Annual Report 2006, the Malaysian economy strengthened in 2006, with real gross domestic product expanding by 5.9%.
Bank of Japan Monthly Report, March 2007
The Bank of Japan published the English version of its March 2007 monthly report on Friday 23 March. In the report the BOJ left its assessment of economic and financial developments unchanged for March, saying the economy continues to expand moderately.
SARB's Quarterly Bulletin, March 2007
The South African Reserve Bank published its March 2007 Quarterly Bulletin on 22 March. According to the latest Bulletin, soaring domestic spending has spurred growth but an appetite for luxury imports and massive government infrastructure spending has…
Fed's Cole says subprime actions too slow
The Federal Reserve could have acted faster to prevent a meltdown in the subprime-mortgage market by halting the lax lending standards that contributed to the crisis, the Fed's chief bank supervisor said Thursday 22 March.
Quaden on the cash single shared platform
In the speech 'CashSSP - the cash single shared platform' given on 16 March Guy Quaden of the National Bank of Belgium said the Eurosystem has established itself as a sound system capable of taking well-founded monetary policy decisions.
Mboweni on the World Cup and the SA economy
In the speech 'The benefits of being a good host - the FIFA World Cup and the South African economy' given on 20 March Tito Mboweni of the SARB said South Africa's current account deficit widened sharply in the fourth quarter of 2006 and the central bank…
International finance and income convergence
The IMF Working Paper "International finance and income convergence: Europe is different" says recent studies conclude that the ongoing global financial integration may have had little or no value in advancing economic growth, especially in poor…
RBI's Reddy on globalisation and monetary policy
In the speech 'Globalisation and monetary policy - some emerging issues' given on 19 March Y V Reddy of the RBI said economists have for long recognised the strong complementarities between the real and the financial sectors.
Central bank performance under inflation targeting
This Bank of Canada Working Paper analyses the inflation record of inflation targeting central banks. The authors find that a higher inflation target and a larger inflation control range are associated with more variable inflation outcomes.
Fed steps back from a tilt toward higher rates
According to this article from John Berry at Bloomberg, published Thursday 22 March, Federal Reserve officials have taken a small step toward a more balanced view of whether their next interest rate move would be up or down.
EU report warns on further ECB rate hikes
The European Commission said in a report quoted by Bloomberg News on Thursday 22 March that further interest-rate increases by the European Central Bank may threaten economic growth in the 13 nations sharing the euro.
Fukui says BOJ to help economy with low rates
Bank of Japan governor Toshihiko Fukui told lawmakers Thursday 22 March that the central bank will help maintain economic growth under price stability by keeping very low interest rates "for now" and vary them only gradually in line with the economic…
Chile's Corbo sees inflation at low end of range
Chilean central bank President Vittorio Corbo told reporters Wednesday 21 March he sees inflation at the low end of the central bank's target range in the coming months as economic growth "gradually" rebounds.