Central Banking
Central banks invest in riskier assets
Just under half of the central banks responding to a recent survey have increased their investments in "new" asset classes in the past year.
Former Polish minister against super regulator
In an interview for the Parkiet daily, the former head of the Polish Securities and Exchange Commission (KPWiG) and treasury minister in Marek Belka's government, Jacek Socha, assessed the Polish financial market as not mature enough to introduce…
Riksbank reshuffles division of work
The Executive Board of Sweden's Riksbank made a decision on 2 February on the division of work between the members of the Board.
BOJ's Mizuno cautions on asset bubble risk
Bank of Japan policy board member Atsushi Mizuno has said that the BOJ's super-easy monetary policy may help produce an asset bubble in Japan, the Jiji Press news agency reported.
Snow says G8 shares responsibility for imbalances
Group of Eight finance ministers believed global growth prospects remained strong but they shared a responsibility to reduce imbalances which threaten the outlook, U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said Saturday.
GCC common monetary council expected
The GCC has said it is likely to set up a common monetary council in the Gulf by the end of this year.
Comment: BIS looks east
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) on Monday announced its intention to "deepen its relationship" with Asian central banks. The most interesting and challenging aspect of the initiative is the proposed "extension of banking services in the…
Central Bank of Sri Lanka - Annual Report 2004
According to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka's Annual Report 2004, Sri Lanka's economy registered an annual growth of 5.4 per cent in the real Gross Domestic Product in 2004.
'Greatest central banker ever' comes down a peg
This article published on Thursday 9 February looks at recent comments by ex Fed chief Alan Greenspan. It was his comments on the likely future course of interest rates that will tarnish his legacy as ``the greatest central banker who ever lived,'' it…
Developing corporate bond markets in Asia
Thirty participants including high-level officials from central banks in Asia and the Pacific, the European Central Bank and the BIS took part in the BIS/PBC seminar held in Kunming, China on 17-18 November 2005.
ECB Monthly Bulletin, February 2006
The European Central Bank published its February 2006 Monthly Bulletin on Thursday. In the report the ECB said it sees tentative signs that the euro zone housing market is becoming overvalued following recent sharp price rises in some countries.
Chicago Fed's Moskow on the US economic outlook
In the speech 'US economic outlook' given on 9 February Michael Moskow of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said U.S. interest rates are at a neutral level, but further increases - even preemptive ones - may be needed depending on how inflation…
Warsh's Fed nomination draws criticism, confusion
President Bush's nomination of the 35-year-old White House aide Kevin Warsh for a seat on the Federal Reserve's board has been greeted with criticism and bewilderment by some former Fed officials and economists, according to this article published on…
Euro group set to nominate Buba's Stark to ECB
Eurozone finance ministers are set to nominate Bundesbank vice-president Juergen Stark next week for the European Central Bank executive board post, an EU official told reporters Thursday 9 February.
Comment: The IMF and exchange rate surveillance
The IMF's managing director, Rodrigo de Rato, on Thursday 9 February shed some light on the Fund's thinking over its medium-term strategy in a speech in Rome.
Issing says ECB ready to act on inflation risks
European Central Bank Chief Economist Otmar Issing said the bank is not necessarily embarking on a predetermined course of raising interest rates successively but that it is ready to act to contain higher inflationary risks.
Fiji announces new banknote designs
The Reserve Bank of Fiji on Friday 10 February signed an agreement for the printing of a series of new design Fiji banknotes with De La Rue International Limited of United Kingdom.
RBNZ to raise Settlement Cash Level to $2,000m
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand will raise the Settlement Cash Level (SCL) from its current level of $500 million to $2,000 million, for value date 13 February 2006.
Gerd Hausler notifies IMF of intention to leave
Gerd Hausler, Counsellor and Director of the International Monetary Fund's International Capital Markets Department (ICM), has notified IMF Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato of his intention to return to Europe and has asked to be released from his…
Japan's Diet approves Suda's reappointment at BOJ
The Diet gave approval on Friday 10 February to a government plan to retain Miyako Suda as a member of the Bank of Japan's policy panel for a second five-year term.
Albania to adopt inflation target
In this speech delivered in Vienna on January 18, 2006 the Governor of the Bank of Albania, Ardian Fullani, reiterates the central bank's intension to switch to fully-fledged inflation targeting.
IMF letter to the FT
In this letter to the Financial Times on 8 February, 2006, the IMF's assistant director Ashoka Mody, and the Fund's senior resident representative for central Europe and the Baltics, Christoph Rosenberg, question FT columnist Wolfgang Munchau assertion…
Bank of Korea hikes rates again
The Bank of Korea raised its benchmark overnight call rate by 25 basis points at their monthly monetary policy meeting in Seoul yesterday. In doing so, governor Park Seung and his six fellow policymakers raised the overnight call rate to 4%.
BoJ - inflation to accelerate in Q1
The Bank of Japan's (BoJ) nine-member board ended Thursday's monetary policy meeting by keeping policy unchanged. BoJ governor, Toshihiko Fukui, said he expected inflation to accelerate in first quarter of 2006.