Central Banking
UK completes world's first 50 year indexed bond
The UK completed the syndication of its first fifty-year inflation linked bond on Friday 23 September, achieving a price and coverage which demonstrated the strong demand for long-dated bonds, and investors' enthusiasm for inflation protection at this…
Gulf central banks plan single currency reserve
Gulf central banks are creating a reserve to support the single currency that is on track to be launched by 2010, the UAE Central Bank governor has said.
Venezuela central bank transfers US$3bn
Venezuela's central bank has transferred US$3 billion of its foreign exchange reserves to a newly created fund to support public projects, the finance minister said Friday 23 September.
Is fiscal policy inflationary? Just ask the Fed
This article published on Wednesday 21 September asks whether US fiscal policy is about to upend the bond market? Market participants may well associate bad news on the economy with an increase in fiscal spending and lower bond prices, it says.
IMF World Economic Outlook, September 2005
The IMF published its World Economic Outlook September 2005 on Wednesday 21 September. In the report the Fund said Hurricane Katrina's reach is global, as higher energy prices cast a cloud of uncertainty over a world economy that is otherwise on track…
Statement by Roger Ferguson on the IMFC meeting
The Financial Stability Forum (FSF) held its fourteenth meeting on 8-9 September 2005 in London. The issues discussed included: risks and vulnerabilities in the international financial system; the resilience of the financial system to shocks and lessons…
The political economy of seigniorage
While most economists agree that seigniorage is one way governments finance deficits, there is less agreement about the political, institutional, and economic reasons for relying on it, according to the IMF Working Paper published Tuesday.
CNB's Frait on negative central bank capital
In the speech 'Exchange rate appreciation and negative central bank capital: Is there a problem?' given on 31 August Jan Frait of the Czech National Bank said the seriousness and potential consequences of negative capital of the central bank depend on…
St Louis Fed's Central Banker, Fall 2005
The St. Louis Fed's Central Banker magazine for Fall 2005 has been published. In the latest edition Julie Stackhouse, senior vice president of Banking Supervision and Regulation, shares her thoughts about why lenders should engage in prudent risk…
Italian economy minister resigns
Italy's Economy Minister Domenico Siniscalco has resigned because of government infighting over the 2006 budget and the administration's failure to oust Bank of Italy Governor Antonio Fazio over a banking scandal, the Treasury said.
BoJ's Nishimura sees no need for liquidity cut
Kiyohiko Nishimura, one of the Bank Japan's nine policy board members, sees no need to end the bank's super-loose monetary policy and cut its liquidity reserve target any time soon even as the country shows signs of pulling out of its deflationary cycle,…
Hurricanes may delay US current account correction
European Central Bank board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi said in an interview that costs resulting from hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico could mean that the US will be unable to correct its large current account deficit for some time.
Comment: IMF on inflation targeting
The IMF's World Economic Outlook, published Wednesday 21 September, makes the contentious assertion that "it does not appear to be necessary" for emerging market economies considering the adoption of fully-fledges inflation targeting, to meet key…
Mersch sees threat to prices from oil
ECB Governing Council member and Luxembourg central bank governor Yves Mersch has said high oil prices are still pushing up inflation.
US, China central banks to discuss currency reform
The US has said it hopes to have more discussions this week with China on its currency reforms and ways to reverse the United States' rising trade deficit.
RBA to dispose of gold coin holding
The Reserve Bank of Australia said on Wednesday 21 September that it has decided that it does not need to continue to hold the large quantity of gold coins it has held for many years.
Fed hikes rates again, but Olson dissents
The FOMC decided on Tuesday 20 September to raise its target for the federal funds rate to 3.75%. In a statement it maintained its 'measured' pace for removing policy accommodation and revealed that Mark Olson had voted to keep rates unchanged.
Confidence in stability keeping rates low- Trichet
Interest rates in the Eurozone are at their lowest level thanks to confidence in price stability inspired by ECB policy, European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet said, in an interview to be published in Le Figaro.
'Watershed' yuan revaluation has made few waves
According to this article Wednesday 21 September marked the two-month anniversary of China announcing it was de-linking its currency from the U.S. dollar. But the Chinese currency has barely budged beyond the initial rise of about 2 per cent, it says.
IMF's clout and relevance wane
As finance ministers and central bankers from around the world gather in Washington this week for the IMF's annual meetings, the organization finds its relevance waning, this article published on Monday 19 September reports. The Fund may need to define a…
Is the ringgit ripe for a rise? Market thinks so
While Malaysia has kept a tight grip on the ringgit since the currency's peg against the dollar was abandoned, this article says markets are starting to bet that high inflation could tempt authorities to relax their control.
Bank of England's MPC united on rate vote
Minutes from the Bank of England's 7 and 8 September meeting released on Wednesday 21 September showed policy makers voted unanimously to keep interest rates unchanged.
Nickell on practical issues in UK monetary policy
In the speech 'Practical issues in UK monetary policy, 2000-2005' given on 20 September, Stephen Nickell of the Bank of England said the Bank could not have prevented Britain's house-price boom without harming economic growth.
Comment: Challenging 'received wisdom'
In delivering the Keynes Lecture in Economics at the British Academy on Tuesday, Bank of England MPC member, Professor Stephen Nickell, set out to refute two major areas of criticism of MPC's track-record over the last five years.