Central Banking
Bank of England Inflation Report, February 2007
The Bank of England published its February 2007 Inflation Report on 14 February. At a press conference BoE governor Mervyn King highlighted that the outlook for inflation over the next year is "highly uncertain" due to the large cut in gas and…
IMF's Rato at the Liberia Partners' Forum
In a speech given on 13 February Rodrigo de Rato of the IMF said the IMF's staff and management will continue to support the Liberian authorities in every way we can.
Tumpel-Gugerell on the ECB's view on SEPA
In the speech 'The European Central Bank's view on SEPA' given on 13 February Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell of the ECB said the aim of SEPA is to complete the introduction of the euro as the single currency and to support European integration.
Bernanke on the semiannual monetary policy report
In testimony to Congress given on 14 February Ben Bernanke of the Federal Reserve said the Fed was still debating how to improve its communication skills, and insisted that there was yet room for improvement.
Federal Reserve's Monetary Policy Report, Feb 2007
The Federal Reserve published its February 2007 Monetary Policy Report to the Congress on Wednesday 14 February. Ben Bernanke told Congress that the US economy should grow modestly this year and he maintained the Fed's forecast that inflation will…
Zalm says French on their own over ECB
Outgoing Dutch finance minister Gerrit Zalm said in an interview published Wednesday 14 February that no other eurozone countries share France's wish for politicians to exercise more control over the European Central Bank.
RBA's Battellino appointed deputy governor
The Australian government appointed Ric Battellino as deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia on Wednesday 14 February for a five-year term.
BoJ's Fukui says risks to sustained growth remain
Bank of Japan governor Toshihiko Fukui said Wednesday 14 February he remains cautious about the outlook for sustained growth of the Japanese economy because it is still exposed to various risks.
PBOC says Wu's remarks don't rule out rate action
The People's Bank of China said Wednesday 14 February that comments by its vice governor published yesterday do not rule out the use of interest rates as an appropriate tool to absorb excessive liquidity.
BoC sees room to improve central bank committees
This article from Reuters, published Monday 12 February, looks at the recent paper "Monetary Policy Committees in Action: Is There Room for Improvement?" noting that central banks have shifted away from the "dictatorial" governor as decision maker, in…
Bank signals one more rate rise for 2007
The Bank of England implied on Wednesday 14 February that interest rates will be raised one more time in 2007, to 5.5%.
China finance official may head reserves body
China's vice-minister of finance is seen taking charge of the new body planned to manage part of China's massive foreign exchange reserves, the Financial Times reported Wednesday 14 February.
Carlos Hurtado named to Mexico central bank board
Mexican president Felipe Calderon nominated Carlos Hurtado, a former deputy finance minister in charge of spending, to the central bank board, Bloomberg reported Tuesday 13 February.
Cyprus makes request to join eurozone, says EU
The European Commission has received an application from Cyprus to join the euro zone, spokeswoman Amelia Torres said Tuesday 13 February.
Bernanke in a democratic lion's den
According to this article from Dow Jones, published Tuesday 13 February, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke will hope not to become a snack this week when he walks into a Democratic lion's den.
Paper on debt sustainability assessment
According to the Working Paper "Debt sustainability assessment: The IMF approach and alternatives" by Charles Wyplosz of the Graduate Institute of International Studies, debt sustainability is an essential attribute of good macroeconomic policies but its…
Central bank independence and inflation: A note
This Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Working Paper documents increased central bank independence within the set of industrialized nations.
Kansas Fed's Hoenig on competitive capital levels
In the speech 'Ensuring adequate and competitive capital levels in a rapidly changing banking environment' given on 5 February Thomas Hoenig of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City said for new capital standards and the remainder of our supervisory…
PBOC official says current rates 'appropriate'
The current level of Chinese interest rates is "still appropriate" given economic and financial indicators, a senior People's Bank of China official said in an interview published Tuesday 13 February.
IMF's de Rato says G7 open minded on gold sales
International Monetary Fund managing director Rodrigo Rato said the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations were "open-minded" about allowing the Fund to sell part of its gold reserves.
EU's Almunia says 'no problem' for exchange rates
Current exchange rates, mainly the value of the euro against the yen, pose no threat to the economy, the EU's Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Joaquin Almunia said in a magazine interview Tuesday 13 February.
Phil Fed's Survey of Professional Forecasters
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia published its First Quarter 2007 Survey of Professional Forecasters on 13 February. Two measures of core inflation in the U.S. economy will decelerate in 2007 and hold nearly steady over the following two years,…
Mexican central banker sees no need for rate hike
A vice-governor of Mexico's central bank wrote in an article Monday 12 February Mexican food price hikes have not pushed up inflation expectations enough to merit an interest rate hike.
St Louis Fed's Poole on state of the U.S. economy
In the speech 'State of the U.S. economy' given on 9 February William Poole of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis warned that unexpectedly strong growth could spur the Fed to raise interest rates again.