Central Banking
Sveriges Riksbank Inflation Report, No. 1, 2006
Sweden's central bank, the Sveriges Riksbank, published its First Inflation Report for 2006 on Thursday 23 February. Speaking to the Riksdag Committee on Finance, Governor Stefan Ingves said the Riksbank envisages inflation rising as capacity utilisation…
Fed's Warsh sworn in
Kevin Warsh took the oath of office as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on Friday 24 February.
ECB launches 'Legal Working Paper' series
The European Central Bank on Friday launched the publication of a Legal Working Paper series. The contributors to the Legal Working Paper series are lawyers from within the ECB, as well as lawyers who have otherwise contributed to the ECB's legal…
Sir John Gieve to head BoE security review
The review of the security of banknote storage which the Bank of England announced on Wednesday 22 February will be headed by Sir John Gieve, Deputy Governor of the Bank.
IMF's de Rato to visit Honduras
Rodrigo de Rato, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), will visit Honduras on February 27, 2006, at the invitation of the President Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales.
Greenspan may work with WSJ columnist on book
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and David Wessel, the Wall Street Journal's deputy Washington bureau chief and author of the paper's Capital column, have talked about collaborating on a book, according to Dow Jones.
ECB's Trichet to visit Bulgaria on Monday
President of the European Central Bank Jean-Claude Trichet will visit Sofia on 27 February at the invitation of the Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivaylo Kalfin.
Bank of England switches auditors
The Bank of England has decided to offer its audit work to Big Four rival KPMG, ending one of PricewaterhouseCoopers longest running audit contracts.
Comment: Zimbabwe's mystery repayment
Two weeks ago the Zimbabwean government managed to avoid expulsion from the IMF by paying off a large chunk of its debt to the Fund. However, the source of the forex-depleted government's finances remains a mystery.
BOJ's policy shift in sight in March, says paper
Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui and senior BOJ officials are considering starting to dismantle the BOJ's ultra-easy policy as early as the March 8-9 policy board meeting, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Friday 24 February.
National Bank of Serbia - Annual Report 2004
According to the National Bank of Serbia's Annual Report 2004, the main characteristics of the economic environment in 2004 were higher than forecast GDP growth of 7.5%, a widened current account deficit and higher than planned inflation rate of 13.7%.
ECB's Tumpel-Gugerell on the Lisbon Agenda
In the speech 'The Lisbon Agenda - what can banks contribute?' given on 23 February Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell of the ECB said the creation of a single eurozone payments area will not just reduce banks' revenues but will also cut their costs.
Resistance waning to BOJ ending hyper-easy policy
According to this article published Tuesday 21 February, resistance by the government and senior members of the ruling party towards the Bank of Japan ending its five-year-old hyper-loose monetary policy seems to be waning.
Bending the yield curve to fit current fashion
This article published on Tuesday 21 February looks at the refusal of long- term interest rates to follow short-term rates higher when the Fed began raising rates in June 2004.
Biggest UK robbery promps BoE security review
The Bank of England is to review security for banknote storage following Britain's biggest ever robbery at a cash centre in Kent that may have netted the thieves between £40-50 million.
Poland's Samoobrona calls for sackable NBP head
Poland's Self Defence (Samoobrona) party has presented amendments to its draft act on the National Bank of Poland (NBP).
Sweden's Riksbank raises interest rates
Sweden's Riksbank raised its interest rate, the repo rate, by 0.25 percentage points to 2% on Thursday 23 February.
Greenspan speaks on outlook for energy
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan discussed the energy outlook and the U.S. housing market, among other topics, at a gathering hosted by ABN AMRO on Wednesday 22 February, an economist told Reuters.
Ferguson on globalization, insurers, & regulators
In the speech 'Globalization, Insurers, and Regulators: Shared Challenges Call for Collaborative Solutions' given on 23 February Roger Ferguson of the Federal Reserve said he did not expect long-term interest rates to rise suddenly, although it was hard…
BOJ's Muto says shift won't mean policy tightening
Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Toshiro Muto said on Thursday 23 February that an end to the BOJ's ultra-loose monetary policy framework will not signify an immediate credit tightening.
Fukui says BOJ will end policy when conditions met
The Bank of Japan is hoping to end its quantitative monetary policy as soon as all the conditions laid down for its removal are met, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun quoted BoJ Governor Toshihiko Fukui as telling upper house's financial affairs committee.
Comment: Ferguson bids Fed farewell
The vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, Roger Ferguson, will retire in two months time and he will not attend the Fed's next rate-setting meeting on March 27-28. Ferguson's departure underscores the idea of a Fed in flux.
New York Fed's Foreign Exchange Operations Report
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Treasury and Federal Reserve Foreign Exchange Operations quarterly report for October-December 2005, the U.S. monetary authorities did not intervene in the foreign exchange markets during the October -…
Central Bank of Seychelles - Annual Report 2004
According to the Central Bank of Seychelles Annual Report 2004, strong recessionary conditions continued to persist in the domestic economy during 2004.