Central Banking
Mexico holds rates despite inflation spike
On 24 November, the Bank of Mexico held its benchmark lending rate at 7%, as expected, for a seventh straight month. The central bank also indicated that the recent increase in inflation would be temporary.
Warsaw hails ex-president of central bank as mayor
Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, the head of Poland's central bank from 1992 to 2000, is set to become the next mayor of the Polish capital Warsaw.
Explaining Fed watchers' mistakes
The authors of this ECB working paper argue that the heterogeneity in the views of private sector Fed watchers is explained by the educational employment backgrounds, as well as by where they are located.
Cautious Fukui on rates outlook
Toshihiko Fukui, the governor of the Bank of Japan, said that the central bank "will proceed with gradual rate hikes" in this speech, given on 27 August.
New payments data from CPSS
The Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems published their annual statistical update of data on payments and payment systems for 2005.
Malta cb's governor says the euro is not enough
Joining the euro will help, said Michael Bonello, the governor of Malta's central bank, but this is not enough to secure faster economic growth.
Norway's pension fund snubs
The Norges Bank-managed state pension investment fund has reportedly blacklisted several large international corporations, including the world's largest retailer Wal-mart, for "alleged human rights and labour abuses."
PBoC not focused on fine-tuning - deputy
The People's Bank of China is draining excess liquidity in order to maintain the differential between domestic and international interest rates, and not to stabilise output or reduce domestic investment, says Wu Xiaoling, the vice governor of the central…
McDonough for Santander board
Banco Santander Central Hispano SA has named William J. McDonough, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, as a member of its non-executive board.
Bernanke to join Paulson in China
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke will follow in the footstep of his predecessor, Alan Greenspan, by accompanying the US Treasury secretary to Beijing next month.
Malaysia holds rates as inflation moderates
As expected, Malaysia's central bank kept interest rates steady at 3.5% for the fifth meeting in a row on Friday. The central bank said lower oil and commodity prices, together with moderate domestic price and wage increases, were keeping inflation in…
Canada maintains inflation target for next 5 years
The Bank of Canada renewed its inflation target of 2%, measured as the change in the core consumer price index, with a symmetrical band of 1% either side, for the next five years.
Turkish rates stable despite high inflation
The Turkish central bank announced on 23 November that it will keep its policy rate unchanged at 17.5% and the lending rate at 22.5% after its penultimate monetary policy committee meeting for 2006.
Euro entry unpredictable - Hungarian CB chief
The National Bank of Hungary believes it is no longer possible to say when the country will be ready to join the euro.
SA's Trevor Manuel to lead G20
South Africa's veteran finance minister, Trevor Manuel, has called on the group of 20 (G20) finance ministers and central bank governors to "build windmills in the calm of current global financial stability."
Lower growth, inflation forecast in US - survey
The rate of growth in US output over the next few quarters looks slower now than it did just three months ago, according to 51 forecasters surveyed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
Focus on distortions - Blanchard
In his Mundell-Fleming Lecture, MIT economist Oliver Blanchard suggests that the outcome of potential government intervention to address current global imbalances is uncertain.
BoK chief on financial supervision
In this speech, the governor of the Bank of Korea, Seong-tae Lee, suggests that financial reforms and stricter supervision standards ensured that the damage from the 2003 credit card crisis was minimal.
Columbian paper on cb staff costs
This research paper by the Columbian central bank finds that a central banks' labour demand is strongly determined by the country's population, economic development level and changes in operative functions, as well as by staff costs.
Chicago Fed inflation conference report
The December 2006 "Chicago Fed Letter" summarises the findings of a conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's Inflation Research Center on price stability.
Fiji ponders remittances' effects
The governor of the Reserve Bank of Fiji, Savenaca Narube, suggested that the central bank would like to see remittances channelled towards investment projects and other "productive purposes".
New Thai governor on IT
In a speech called "Inflation targeting - a reflection on Thailand's experience," the newly-appointed governor of the Bank of Thailand, Tarisa Watanagase, cautioned that the framework should not be seen as a panacea.
Explaining US imbalances
In this new NBER working paper, Fabrizio Perri and Alessandra Fogli argue that an external imbalance is a natural consequence of the decline in the volatility of the US business cycle.
SWIFT broke laws - EU committee
SWIFT, an international financial data transfer agency, breached European data privacy laws in handing over personal data to American investigators, according to a report by a European Union committee.