Central Banking
RBA's Lowe on payments system reforms
In a speech given on 15 May Philip Lowe of the RBA said the changes that we have seen in the payments system to date are in the direction we expected.
BoE's new money market framework
The Bank of England published on Monday 15 May the lists of banks and building societies participating at the launch of its new framework for implementing the Monetary Policy Committee's interest rate decisions.
Turkmenistan's central bank chief sacked
The Turkmen president on Saturday 13 May sacked the central bank governor on national television, saying he should go and become a teacher, according to Reuters.
Economist says yuan should be allowed to rise 5%
China has to speed up the pace of yuan appreciation to 5 percent for this year and ease its huge foreign exchange surplus if it wants to keep domestic bank lending under control, government researcher Zhu Baoliang told reporters on Monday 15 May.
RBM to lose 100 staff - report
About 100 people have been earmarked for retrenchment at Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) following the central bank's decision to outsource some of its services, The Daily Times reported on its website.
National Bank of Belarus - Annual Report 2004
According to the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus's Annual Report 2004, the economic situation in 2004, on the whole, was characterised by a deceleration of inflationary and devaluation processes and higher rates of GDP growth.
Fed's Kohn on investing in payment innovations
In the speech 'Investing in payment innovations: A Federal Reserve perspective' given on 11 May Donald Kohn of the Federal Reserve said changing electronic payment systems benefit both institutions and consumers, but also expose them to new risks,…
ECB's Trichet on European financial integration
In the speech 'The process of European financial integration' given on 11 May Jean-Claude Trichet of the ECB said European financial integration still lags behind, particularly in retail banking and financial infrastructure services, despite the progress…
Comment: Flawed convergence criteria?
Willem Buiter and Anne Sibert, two London-based academics, have slammed the Maastricht criteria for entry into the eurozone. They point to a number of inconsistencies in way the conditions are applied and suggest that the current formulation "makes no…
Richmond Fed welcomes chief HR officer
Tammy H. Cummings will join the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond as vice president of human resources for the Fifth District, effective 15 May.
RBI's Reddy on global imbalances
In the speech 'Global imbalances - An Indian perspective' given on 11 May Dr.Y.V.Reddy of the Reserve Bank of India said any large adjustments in major currencies and global interest rates would have a significant impact on the economy.
China needs more central bank independence - IMF
A new paper from the International Monetary Fund says that China should adopt an explicit, long-run inflation objective, strengthen its banking sector, and give its central bank operational independence.
ECB pledges price stability, oil risks worsen
The article "ECB bankers pledge price stability, oil risks worsen" published Thursday 11 May says that the oil shock threatens to push up core inflation in the eurozone, a danger the European Central Bank ignores at its peril.
Hungary's Jarai calls budget 'undisciplined'
Hungary's central bank governor launched a strongly worded attack on the budgetary management of Hungary's socialist prime minister, Ferenc Gyurcsany on Thursday 11 May.
BoE's Walton sees more confidence in economy
Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member David Walton was quoted on Friday 12 May as saying that policymakers are confident that the UK economy has clearly emerged from a soft patch early last year.
Chinese economists want increased gold reserves
Some Chinese economists are urging the government to increase its gold reserves to 2,500 tons from the current 600 tons because the country's foreign exchange reserves had become the world's largest, an official industry newspaper reported this week.
Turkey to stick with floating lira
The governor of Turkey's central bank said Friday 12 May that the bank would maintain its floating currency system but was closely monitoring foreign currency market developments, the Anatolia news agency reported.
Shabibi says Iraq's reforms are on track
The governor of the central bank of Iraq said on Thursday 11 May that solid progress was being made in reforming the country's financial sector despite ongoing disruptions and that enough reserves existed to defend the currency.
Central Bank of Belize - Annual Report 2004
According to the Central Bank of Belize's Annual Report 2004, buoyancy in tourism, productivity gains in the primary sector, a resurgence in construction and manufacturing, as well as increases in real estate/ business and financial services generated…
The little-noticed 'yet' in the Fed's statement
According to this article by John Berry, published Thursday 11 May, it was in the FOMC's statement explaining what may come next that "yet" appeared, signalling that after boosting the target at 16 consecutive meetings the committee probably will take a…
The origins of bubbles in laboratory asset markets
The authors of this Atlanta Fed Working Paper, published May 2006, conduct experiments that are designed to investigate individual probability judgment error and speculative behaviour. They find that both factors contribute to the creation of asset price…
ECB Monthly Bulletin, May 2006
The European Central Bank published its May 2006 Monthly Bulletin on Thursday 11 May. In the report the ECB reiterated its outlook that monetary and credit growth remains very dynamic in the euro area and strong vigilance is needed to ensure price…
Norges Bank Economic Bulletin, April 2006
Norges Bank has published its April 2006 Economic Bulletin. The latest Bulletin includes: "Economic perspectives" address by Svein Gjedrem, "Projections, uncertainty and choice of interest rate assumption in monetary policy" address by Jarle Bergo, and …
Central Bank of Ireland, Quarterly Bulletin 2/2006
The Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland published its Second Quarterly Bulletin for 2006 on 12 April. The Bulletin reports that the outlook for the Irish economy remains good.