Central Banking
ECB's Issing says rate policy no block to recovery
The European Central Bank's interest rate policy is no obstacle to an economic upturn in the euro zone, ECB chief economist Otmar Issing told German weekly Rheinischer Merkur.
Greenspan says debate, openness must be balanced
Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said in response to questions from Congress that the FOMC works hard to balance policymakers' need to have private discussions about economic matters and investors' desire for transparency.
Fitch raises Mexico debt rating
Mexico's debt rating was raised one level by Fitch Ratings as the country reduces foreign debt and inflation decelerates, Fitch said in a statement.
Greece's Garganas: ECB won't follow Fed rate rises
The European Central Bank won't follow the US Federal Reserve's practise of continuous interest rate hikes, Bank of Greece governor and ECB Governing Council member Nicholas Garganas said Friday 9 December.
Tanigaki urges BOJ not to rush policy shift
Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki has urged the Bank of Japan not to rush in ending its current quantitative expansionary monetary policy framework.
Comment: Risks facing buoyant South Africa
As is the case in many emerging market economies, South Africa is yet to escape the perception that its economic fortunes are to a large extent dependent on the performance of its currency.
Fed's Ferguson on asset price levels & volatility
In the speech 'Asset price levels and volatility: Causes and implications' given on 15 November Roger Ferguson of the Federal Reserve said the reduced volatility seen in overall economic activity since the mid-1980s does not seem to have carried over…
HKMA: Four pointers to financial stability
In a commentary published by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, HKMA Chief Executive Joseph Yam says open, medium-sized and sophisticated international financial centres are attractive to international fund flows, which are often volatile. The task of…
IMF's Krueger on economic policy reform
In the speech 'Mutual reinforcement: Economic policy reform and financial market strength' given on 1 December Anne Krueger of the IMF said for economists and policymakers, the experience of the 1990s taught us a great deal.
G-7 falters in sending stern message to China
Although finance ministers from the Group of Seven industrialised nations were optimistic three months ago that China's new currency regime would help the global economy find its lost balance, they weren't so sure last weekend, this article published…
ECB Monthly Bulletin, December 2005
The European Central Bank published its December 2005 Monthly Bulletin on Thursday 8 December. In the report the ECB defended its decision to raise its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point earlier this month, saying that the move was…
RBNZ Monetary Policy Statement, December 2005
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand published its December 2005 Monetary Policy Statement on 8 December. It also announced that the OCR will increase by 25 basis points to 7.25 per cent. The report said the RBNZ remains concerned about the tightness of…
Riksbank introduces new system for publication
On Tuesday 6 December Sweden's Riksbank began using a new electronic system, Observer Online, for the distribution of press releases, speeches, minutes of monetary policy meetings and statistics.
Memorandum of Understanding between BNM & HKMA
Bank Negara Malaysia and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority jointly announced on Thursday 8 December the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the establishment of a large-value payment-system link between Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Payment Innovation Conference, Amsterdam 4-5 April
The key theme is 'Payment Innovation Beyond SEPA'. SEPA is the acronym for 'Single European Payment Area', a political effort to harmonize all payment systems within Europe.
IMF's Rajan urges caution on further ECB rate hike
IMF chief economist Raghuram Rajan has called on the European Central Bank to wait for evidence that an economic recovery is taking hold in the euro zone before raising interest rates again.
Mersch says ECB ready to act when necessary
The European Central Bank has not determined what or when its next move will be, but would act if it felt the need to raise rates again, ECB Governing Council member Yves Mersch told a German newspaper.
Comment: Latin America's challenge
The latest edition of Finance and Development, the IMF's quarterly magazine with reader-friendly summaries of its research activities, argues that Latin American central banks face significant challenges in restoring market confidence in domestic…
Denmark's Bernstein at Danish Bankers Association
In a speech at the Annual Meeting of the Danish Bankers Association given on 30 November Nils Bernstein of the Danmarks Nationalbank said he intends to follow his predecessor's strategy, and warned that Denmark's economy may be expanding too fast.
ECB's Issing on fiscal and monetary policies
In the speech 'The role of fiscal and monetary policies in the stabilisation of the economic cycle' given on 14 November Otmar Issing of the ECB said the ECB always aims to take timely action to address inflation risks but it also has to avoid reacting…
SF Fed's Yellen on 2005 in review and prospects
In the speech 'The U.S economy: 2005 in review and prospects for 2006' given on 2 December Janet Yellen of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco said the Federal Reserve is probably not yet finished raising interest rates and must monitor price gains…
Why RBI is asking for autonomy
The Reserve Bank of India has been striving to attain a degree of autonomy for quite some time, according to this article published on 5 Monday December . And there are valid reasons for the RBI in doing so, it says.
Fed's end to rate increases in 2006
Federal Reserve officials will gather on 13 December and for the 13th meeting in a row will raise interest rates by a quarter-percentage point, this article published Tuesday 6 December says.
BIS Quarterly Review, December 2005
The Bank for International Settlements has published its December 2005 Quarterly Review. Foreign banks dominate the financial sectors in emerging economies to such a degree as to pose problems for regulators and potential threats to domestic financial…