Central Banking
BoE leaves rates unchanged
The Bank of England left interest rates unchanged at 4.5% following its two-day monetary policy meeting. The bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) last cut rates in August 2005, when policy rates were reduced by 0.25%.
Big reserve holders in Asia
The president of the Asian Development Bank, Haruhiko Kuroda, told Dow Jones newswires yesterday that "emerging economies in Asia are well advised to decelerate the accumulation of foreign exchange reserves". "Many of them have more than enough", he said.
Comment: BoJ and inflation targeting
As the Bank of Japan's "quantitative easing" policy nears its end, the question of whether the central bank may soon set an explicit inflation target is being hotly debated. Although the BoJ is still resisting the adopting the framework, the tide may…
Bank of Namibia quarterly bulletin
The Bank of Namibia's December quarterly bulletin admits that the "economy performed poorly during the third quarter of 2005".
Geopolitics boost gold - Greenspan
Recently retired US Federal Reserve chariman, Alan Greenspan, is reported to have attributed high gold prices to investor concerns over major geopolitical conflicts and not a reflection of inflation worries.
Palestian transfers can continue - Fischer
The governor of the Bank of Israel, Stanley Fischer, has said Israel can still have economic ties with the Palestinians after Hamas takes over, provided the Islamic militants do not resume attacks on Israel.
Israeli CB deputies to go
The two deputy governors of the Bank of Israel, Meir Sokoler and Avia Spivak, will retire from the central bank at the end of the month. The governor of the Bank of Israel, Stanley Fischer, informed the Israeli Minister of Finance of the move earlier…
Australian rates unchanged
The Reserve Bank of Australia yesterday left the overnight cash rate at 5.5%, following its first interest rate meeting of the year. Australia is in the midst of its most stable economic period in three decades, with only one change in monetary policy in…
Emerging market reserves grow in January
Recent data show significant increases in foreign exchange reserves in a number of emerging market economies in January. The Philippines gross international reserves hit an all-time high of $20.504 billion at the end of January on fresh government…
Asian reform
In this speech given at a Wharton business school forum in Mumbai on 6 January, 2006, the governor of the Bank of Thailand, M R Pridiyathorn Devakula, argues that fast growing intra-regional trade between east Asian economies provides evidence that the…
Research on inflation targetting
In this theoretical paper Felipe F. Schwartzman of Princeton University looks at how inflation-targeting central banks using target bands, as opposed to point targets, can go about addressing both inflation and stability biases.
IMF paper on bank regulation
This new IMF working paper argues that "banks will want to influence the bank regulator to favor their interests, and they typically have the means to do so".
Comment: Bernanke gets more time
The new Fed chairman, Ben Bernanke, will have an extra day to listen to different opinions and pore over the latest data on the American economy at his first FOMC meeting. Yesterday's news that the March 28 meeting will be expanded could increase…
Chinese interest rate reform
The People's Bank of China will continue reforms this year to make interest rates more market oriented, the central bank-backed Financial News said in a front-page editorial on 8 February.
Translation backlogs could delay Basel II
Delays in translating new banking rules into the European Union's 20 official languages must not jeopardise the introduction of the changes, a senior banking regulator said on Wednesday, 8 February.
Italy welcomes bank merger
Le Figaro reported yesterday that the Italian government has welcomed the takeover bid for BNL, the country's sixth-largest bank, by French banking group BNP Paribas. The paper quoted Italian finance minister, Giulio Tremonti, as saying he regards it as…
Germany to issue inflation-linked bonds
The German government plans to issue inflation-linked bonds this year, but is hoping for an uptick in inflation expectations to time the sale Gerhard Schleif, the head of the nation's debt agency, told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview yesterday.
Indonesian rates on hold
The Central Bank of Indonesia yesterday left interest rates unchanged at 12.75% for a second month, as economic growth slowed down. Six interest rate increases since July have helped the rupiah recover from a four-year low on August 30 last year amid…
FATF to look at Russian banks
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental anti money laundering body, plans to carry out a large-scale check on the Russian banking system in April 2007, Russian Central Bank deputy chairman Viktor Melnikov said earlier this week.
German gold debate rages on
The debate in Germany about the Bundesbank's gold reserves and salary bonuses is continuing.
Counterfeit notes in Solomon Islands
The Central Bank of Solomon Islands has reported the circulation of counterfeit notes throughout the country's banking system. The central bank's currency and operations manager, Daniel Haridi told the national broadcaster that it is hard to say how many…
RBI third quarter review
On January 24 Reserve Bank of India governor, Dr Y Venugopal Reddy, presented the central bank's third quarter review of annual monetary policy for the year 2005-06.
IMF survey
The new IMF survey includes an overview of the recent reshuffling of the Fund's financial sector department. IMF Managing Director, Rodrigo de Rato, announced plans to create a new department on February 1, 2006.
Dodge urges "urgent action" on imbalances
In this speech given in Bridgetown, Barbados on 6 February, 2006 the governor of the Bank of Canada, David Dodge, argues that the "need for urgent action has increased" with regard to reducing the risks to the global economy posed by global imbalances.