Central Banking
Central Bank of Cyprus - Annual Report 2004
According to the Central Bank of Cyprus's Annual Report 2004, the acceleration in economic activity, particularly domestic demand, led to a current account deficit of 5.8% of GDP in 2004 compared with 3% of GDP in the previous year.
European Central Bank - Annual Report 2005
European Central Bank vice-president Lucas Papademos told the European Parliament on Tuesday 25 April that further ECB interest rate hikes will be needed.
Bernanke prods Fed to review communication
According to the article "Bernanke prods Federal Reserve to review communication strategy" published on Wednesday 26 April , the Federal Reserve is preparing a comprehensive communication review. The examination will take months and seek a consensus…
Interview with Zhang Zhuoyuan
In an interview published on Wednesday 26 April, Zhang Zhuoyuan of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said China may widen the yuan's trading band when "suitable" to allow more gains and boost investors' role in setting exchange rates.
Comments: Reserve diversification
Recent reports of the diversification official foreign exchange reserves in the Middle East have not gone unnoticed. Economists are starting to ask if the prospect of large-scale reserve diversification is back on the international agenda, following a…
Guarding against large policy errors
In the Bank of Canada Working Paper "Guarding against large policy errors under model uncertainty" the author discusses some recent approaches that can be used to avoid large policy errors when policy-makers are uncertain about the true model of the…
Strategist says central banks may sell dollars
Central banks are likely to sell dollars in 2006 as they move to diversify their reserves in favour of the euro, according to BNP Paribas SA.
Tanigaki wants orderly fx moves
Japan's finance minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said on Tuesday 25 April that sudden exchange rate movements seen after the recent Group of Seven meeting were undesirable.
ECB to weigh rate options - Gonzalez-Paramo
ECB executive board member Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo said on Tuesday 25 April that the euro zone central bank will debate raising interest rates at its meeting next week, but nothing was fixed.
China must develop bond market - PBOC official
China needs to foster more domestic consumption to drive the nation's economy, and also develop its bond market, an official with the People's Bank of China said.
Srejber on how the Riksbank's assets are managed
In the speech 'How the Riksbank's financial assets are managed' given on 25 April Eva Srejber of the Sveriges Riksbank said by investing in asset types with credit risk, that is, other fixed-income securities than government bonds, we can increase the…
Deutsche Bundesbank Monthly Report, March 2006
The Deutsche Bundesbank published the English version of its March 2006 Monthly Report on 25 April. The report said the EU intensification of excessive budget deficit procedures against the German government is justified.
National Bank of Denmark - Annual Report 2005
According to the National Bank of Denmark's Annual Report 2005, the economic upswing in Denmark became even stronger in 2005.
How/why do consumers choose their payment methods?
In this Kansas City Fed RWP Stacey Schreft takes a detailed look at the state of research on this subject, where research needs to go, and why such research is important for monetary policymakers and banking regulators.
Trichet on why Europe needs structural reforms
In the speech 'Why Europe needs structural reforms' given on 24 April Jean-Claude Trichet of the ECB said the eurozone economy could grow nearly a percentage point faster each year if governments make markets more flexible.
Bank of Canada raises interest rates
The Bank of Canada on Tuesday 25 April announced that it is raising its target for the overnight rate by one-quarter of one percentage point to 4 per cent.
The UK current account deficit and all that
Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member Stephen Nickell said in a paper published on Tuesday 25 April that the UK current account deficit is probably sustainable so long as average returns on equities exceed those on debt.
G-7 appeals to IMF to pressure China on yuan
The International Monetary Fund will take up the task of trying to get China to accept a stronger currency, according to this article published on Tuesday 25 April. Whether the IMF is up to shouldering the burden remains to be seen, it says.
Bubble, schmubble - foil or trouble?
According to this article published on Saturday 22 April, a number of economists are beginning to argue that long-accepted methods of measuring economic trends must be rethought and possibly replaced to reflect new economic conditions.
ECB talk of normalising rates confirms slow pace
This article published on Monday 24 April suggests that a recent shift in ECB rhetoric to talk of normalising interest rates appears to confirm that the central bank has in mind a slow and steady course of rate hikes.
Is single global currency feasible?
The problems of how to value one currency compared to another and How to predict or control fluctuations in those values persist and now must be solved, according to this article published Tuesday 25 April.
Buba's Weber sticks to German growth forecast
The German central bank still expects economic growth of around 'one-and-a half percent' in Germany this year, despite the rallying oil prices, Bundesbank president Axel Weber told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in an interview.
Economist warns over euro currency
Respected European economist Paul de Grauwe has warned of the euro's collapse unless there is progress towards political union.
Comment: Will the Fund's new approach matter?
Stephen Roach, managing director and chief economist of Morgan Stanley, suggests that the renewed debate on the role of the international financial institutions is missing questions that "should be near the top of the global agenda".