Central Banking
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…
India following 'passive policy' on gold
Reserve Bank of India governor, Yaga Venugopal Reddy, said on Tuesday 6 December that the federal government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have been following a "passive policy" on its gold holdings.
Jarai says Fitch downgrade will raise rates
Hungary's central bank governor Zsigmond Jarai said on Wednesday that Hungary's downgrading by ratings agency Fitch on Tuesday6 December would increase risk premiums but would not affect the economy in the short term.
Ireland's Hurley supports ECB rate rise
Ireland's central bank governor John Hurley has defended the ECB's quarter point rate hike last week, saying it will dampen the threat of inflation across the eurozone.
BOJ's Haru says reserve target may be cut
Bank of Japan policy board member Hidehiko Haru said the BOJ may have to lower its reserve target range before it concludes its ultra-easy monetary policy, if it becomes difficult to keep to the present range, which is set very high.
Fukui says govt understands BOJ's stance
Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui said on Wednesday 7 December he thinks Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi understands the BOJ's deflation-fighting policy stance.
Treasury management system for Bulgaria
The Bulgarian National Bank is gearing up for entry to the European Union (promised for 2008 or 2009 at the latest) by ensuring it will meet the 1 January 2007 deadline for compliance with the revised Eurosystem standards for treasury management…
Comment: Reshuffle at the ECB?
When Otmar Issing retires from the ECB's 6-member executive board next year, Germany's seat is likely to be taken by Jurgen Stark, currently vice-president of the German Bundesbank.
Score so far is ECB, 1; Unsolicited advisers, 0
This article published on Thursday 1 December looks at the ECB's decision to raise interest rates at its most recent meeting, saying Europe's finance ministers would be better served by putting their own houses in order rather than telling Monsieur…
IMF Paper on capital account liberalization
The IMF Working Paper "Capital account liberalization, capital flow patterns, and policy responses in the EU's new member states" discusses the experience of the EU's eight new member countries (EU8) between 1995 and 2003 when the bulk of capital account…
When will Asian central banks buy into gold?
This article published on Friday 2 December asks what would happen to the gold market if central banks in Asia decided to follow the recent trend and increase their gold reserves?
Richmond Fed's Economic Quarterly, Fall 2005
The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond has published its Economic Quarterly for Fall 2005. The latest issue includes the article 'Monetary policy and the term structure of interest rates'.