Central Banking
BoE's Bean on the economic outlook
In the speech 'Economic Outlook' given on 21 February Charles Bean of the Bank of England said upside and downside risks to the inflation outlook are dividing Bank of England policymakers and making it difficult to predict which direction interest rates…
SF Fed's Yellen on the U.S. economy in 2007
In the speech 'The U.S. economy in 2007' given on 21 February Janet Yellen of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco said she still sees upside risks to inflation but that U.S. interest rates were "well positioned" to bring inflation down.
Fed's Kohn on fin stability and managing crises
In the speech 'Financial stability: Preventing and managing crises' given on 21 February Donald Kohn of the Federal Reserve said financial crises are inevitable from time to time and it is vital that the Federal Reserve have a hand in bank supervision to…
FOMC members upbeat on economic outlook
Federal Reserve officials at their January meeting shrugged off past concerns and said the outlook for growth and inflation was looking positive, according to minutes of the meeting released Wednesday 21 February.
UNMIK head rejects nomination for Kosovo board
According to internet news agency KosovaLive, the Kosovo government announced Wednesday 21 February that head of UNMIK Joachim Rucker has nullified the decision for the appointment of former minister of economy Ali Sadria as a member of the Steering…
Yam warns investors to 'fasten safety belts'
Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief executive Joseph Yam said on Wednesday 21 February that the People's Bank of China's decision to raise the reserve requirement ratio on deposits will have little impact on mainland lenders.
Brazil's Lula considers central bank changes
Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is preparing to order changes in the board of directors of the country's central bank, Dow Jones reported Thursday 22 February.
Czech euro adoption 2012 likely - fin min
The Czech Republic could realistically adopt the euro in 2012, the Finance Ministry announced Wednesday 21 February, according to Prague Daily Monitor.
No economic recovery without political reform
According to this article published by The Zimbabwean on Thursday 22 February, despite Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono's admission of the failure of his fire fighting economic policies, it is abundantly clear that the root cause of the…
RBA's Stevens on the Australian economy
In a speech to the House of Representatives given on 21 February Glenn Stevens of the RBA said it is more likely that interest rates will rise than fall although the central bank is more comfortable with the outlook for inflation than it was six months…
Chicago Fed National Activity Index, January 2007
The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for January 2007, published 20 February, was -0.74 in January, down from +0.36 in December. The production and employment indicators showed the most significant change from the previous month, although all four…
BoC's Jenkins on the Bank of Canada Act
In a speech given on 20 February Paul Jenkins of the Bank of Canada said in terms of openness and transparency, in many ways, the importance of these issues goes to the heart of our main responsibility: the conduct of monetary policy.
Bank of Japan to keep 'accommodative' policy
Bank of Japan governor Toshihiko Fukui said Wednesday 21 February it will maintain its "accommodative" monetary policy for some time, after voting to raise interest rates.
Minutes show 7-2 split on BoE rate vote
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted by a 7-to-2 margin to keep its benchmark rate unchanged at 5.25 pct at its meeting earlier this month, minutes showed Wednesday 21 February.
SNB's Roth says rates not high enough yet
Swiss National Bank (SNB) chairman Jean-Pierre Roth said in an interview published Wednesday 21 February that Switzerland's current interest rate level is still not high enough to guarantee price stability in the medium-term.
Fed's Bies says bad mortgage debt not problem
Federal Reserve governor Susan Bies said in a speech Tuesday 20 February the bulk of the mortgage market was not troubled by bad debt problems, which were concentrated in the subprime, tarnished-credit sector.
Russia reiterates reserve diversification idea
The Russian central bank remains interested in further diversification of the currency structure of its gold and forex exchange reserves, its first deputy chairman said in a newspaper interview published on Tuesday 21 February.
CBN says currency change won't affect ECOWAS
The governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Professor Charles Soludo, has said currency restructuring by the Federal government will not affect plan for common denomination by ECOWAS countries.
Independent central banks are rare breed in Asia
According to this article published Wednesday 14 February by Bloomberg, Asian leaders seem to believe that the art of central banking is too important to be left to bankers.
Brazil will add reserves while liquidity high
Brazil's policy of increasing foreign reserves should continue as long as global imbalances support a steady flow of dollars into the country, central bank director Paulo Vieira da Cunha told analysts in New York.
IMF's Rato on reform in Latin America
In the speech 'The way forward for reform in Latin America' given on 16 February Rodrigo de Rato of the IMF said Latin America's drift to the political left suggests voters are uncertain, and in some cases dissatisfied, with their economies.
Deutsche Bundesbank Monthly Report, January 2007
The Deutsche Bundesbank published the English version of its January 2007 Monthly Report on Monday 19 February. The report said the German economic recovery continued in the fourth quarter of 2006.
ECB paper on emerging market economies
The ECB Working Paper "What drives business cycles and international trade in emerging market economies?" investigates the role of domestic and external factors in explaining business cycle and international trade developments in fifteen emerging market…
BoE paper on Asia's choice of exchange rate regime
In the Bank of England Working Paper "Does Asia's choice of exchange rate regime affect Europe's exposure to US shocks?" the authors use a stylised three-country model to analyse how the transmission of US shocks to Europe might be affected by Asia's…