Central Banking
IMF paper: Vanishing contagion?
This IMF Paper, published January 2006, says that while a number of emerging market crises were characterized by widespread contagion during the 1990s, more recent crises have been mostly contained within national borders.
RBNZ holds OCR unchanged at 7.25 per cent
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand announced on Thursday 26 January that the Official Cash Rate (OCR) will remain unchanged at 7.25 per cent.
IMF's Rato names Director of External Relations
Rodrigo de Rato, Managing Director of the IMF, on Wednesday 25 January informed the 24-member Executive Board of his intention to name Mr. Masood Ahmed as Director of the IMF's External Relations Department.
Comment: The Old Lady's new deputy
The Bank of England's new deputy governor for financial stability, Sir John Gieve, appeared yesterday before the Treasury Committee of the House of Commons for his appointment hearing.
Bank interest rate pass-through in the euro area
The European Central Bank Working Paper 'Bank interest rate pass-through in the euro area: a cross country comparison' investigates the pass-through between market interest rates and bank interest rates in the euro area.
Fed's Fisher on process of creative destruction
In a speech given on 19 January Richard Fisher of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas said there is a dynamic tension in Japan today.
NY Fed's Geithner on global imbalances
In the speech 'Policy implications of global imbalances' given on 23 January Timothy Geithner of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said the massive and growing U.S. current account deficit presents a threat to the world economy and an eventual…
Chicago Fed National Activity Index, December 05
The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for December 2005, published 25 January, was +0.08, down from +0.59 in November. Two of the four broad categories of indicators that make up the index made small positive contributions, and two made small negative…
Russia's Tulin set to leave central bank
Dmitry Tulin, a deputy chairman at the Central Bank of Russia, will leave his post on 1 February and join auditing company Deloitte and Touche.
Iran clarifies rumours on reserves shift, gold
Mohammad-Jaafar Mojarrad, Iran's central bank vice-governor, told the Financial Times on Tuesday that Tehran had withdrawn foreign reserves from Italian banks but not from other parts of Europe.
Bank of England voted 8-1 to hold rates
Minutes of the Bank of England's last Monetary Policy Committee meeting, released Wednesday 25 January, showed that only dovish Stephen Nickell wanted to lower UK interest rates a quarter-point.
BOJ minutes show reluctance for price target
According to minutes from the Bank of Japan board's December meeting released on Wednesday 25 January, some members of the BOJ's policy board felt it would be hard to set a desirable rate of inflation.
Z$50 000 bank note coming to Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe's inflation ravaged citizens will soon have a new Z$50 000 bank note to make shopping easier, central bank governor Gideon Gono announced on Tuesday 24 January.
Bini Smaghi calls for excess liquidity halt
Central banks must act in a timely way to halt excess liquidity, a senior European Central Bank official said in the advance release of a newspaper interview Wednesday 25 January.
Merrill Lynch hires former NY Fed chief
William McDonough, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, has joined Wall Street investment bank Merrill Lynch & Co. as vice chairman and special adviser to the chairman on business development, the company said Monday 23 January.
PBOC will make better use of yuan band
China intends to use of the yuan's six-month old trading band in a better way, rather than doing another one-off revaluation, a senior Chinese central banker said on Wednesday 25 Janaury.
Comment: Lambert on CB communication
In a speech delivered in Mumbai earlier this week, Richard Lambert, an external member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, argued that although a disciplined communications strategy is an absolute necessity for all modern central banks,…
Interview with CBN's Charles Soludo
Speaking on Thursday 19 January Central Bank of Nigeria governor Charles Soludo forecast 2006 inflation to fall to "single digits", probably nine percent, and said 2005 price growth had likely been 12 percent, just above the 10 percent target.
Time to judge the whole record of Alan Greenspan
According to this article published Thursday 19 January, Alan Greenspan was widely seen as giving his blessing to the tax cuts of 2001 - the beginning of the end of a solid decade of progress on fiscal discipline.
Central Bank of Tunisia - Annual Report 2004
The Tunisian economy grew in virtually all sectors in 2004, according to the Central Bank of Tunisia's Annual Report 2004.
Portugal's Constancio agrees new five year term
Bank of Portugal governor Vitor Constancio has agreed to stay on at the central bank for a second five-year term at the invitation of the government, Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos said.
Netherlands' Zalm warns on ECB rate comments
Dutch finance minister Gerrit Zalm has warned euro group finance ministers not to make public comments on the European Central Bank's monetary policy.
Bank of England demands costs for legal case
The Bank of England is making a demand for costs of up to £80 million for legal costs incurred defending the failed £850 million lawsuit by accountancy giant Deloitte, liquidator of the scandal hit Bank of Credit & Commerce International.
Gambia plans central bank reform
Famara Jatta, Governor of the Central Bank of The Gambia, has said that the bank has started work on reforms within the framework of a restructuring exercise for the enhancement of national economic statistics preparation and processing.