Central Banking
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.
Comment: EU banking supervision
Bundesbank board member Edgar Meister's assertion earlier this week that "the current supervisory framework is no real hindrance to cross-border consolidation" in the European banking sector, underlines the differences in opinion amongst policymakers on…
CBK warns illegal lenders
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has issued a statement giving sham microfinance institutions until May to clean up their act or face legal action.
SARB's Mboweni highlights inflation risks
The South African Reserve Bank last week left the repurchase rate unchanged at 7%, but governor, Tito Mboweni, cautioning that robust domestic demand together with oil and food prices posed potential risks to the inflation outlook.
Slovenians happy with Commission's findings
The Slovenia's finance minister and central bank have expressed their satisfaction with the European Commission's upbeat assessment of the country's preparations for joining the euro.
More hikes ahead - Sweden's Ingves
New Swedish central bank governor, Stefan Ingves, said on Monday 6 February that he expected a continued gradual increase in interest rates. The speech, given at Umea University, was Ingves' first public appearance since his appointment at the start of…
New book on South Africa from the IMF
The International Monetary Fund has published a new book entitled, "Post-Apartheid South Africa: The First Ten Years". The authors, Michael Nowak and Luca Ricci, argue that "in successfully navigating the transition from apartheid to democracy, the…
Fed's Fischer on global growth dynamics
In this speech given at the Institute of Economic Affairs in London on February 6, 2006, the president of the Dallas Fed, Richard W. Fisher, suggests that the United States will remain the growth engine for the global economy for some time to come.
IMF's Rato on global imbalances
In a speech at the University of California at Berkeley last week the International Monetary Fund's managing director, Rodrigo de Rato, said the United States should "tackle its current account deficit by increasing domestic saving". Reducing the fiscal…
Trichet on the benefits of flexibility
In this speech given at the Institute of Economic Affairs in London on February 6, 2006, the president of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, outlined three main reasons why structural reforms across Europe need to speeded up.
Bernanke's remarks at swearing-in ceremony
Ben Bernanke made some brief remarks after being sworn in as chairman of the US Federal Reserve by president, George W Bush, on February 6, 2002.
Comment: Slovenia set for the euro
The ringing endorsement Slovenia recently received from the European Commission and its economic and monetary affairs commissioner, Joaquin Almunia, underlines the growing consensus that the country will be the next member of the eurozone. However, like…
New conflict over Bundesbank bonus cuts
The new spat between the German finance ministry and the Bundesbank has developed over cuts in the compensation schemes of the central bank's staff.
Bank of Sudan - Annual Report 2003
According to the Bank of Sudan's Annual Report 2003, the year saw a number of economic, financial and monetary developments both on the international and domestic levels.