Central Banking
ECB's TARGET2 Progress Report
The ECB published a progress report on TARGET2 on 8 February. The report considers three main issues - service, pricing and migration to TARGET2. These issues were decided upon by the Governing Council on 16 December 2004.
Russia's euro reserves increase
The euro now accounts for one third of Russia's foreign currency reserves, a top official from Russia's central bank said on Tuesday 8 February.
Iraq to earn income on reserves via NY Fed account
The central bank of Iraq is to be allowed to open a deposit with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York which will earn it millions of dollars in vital interest income, US Treasury Under Secretary John Taylor said on Tuesday 8 February.
ADB chief urges flexible exchange rates for China
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday 7 February, the head of the Asian Development Bank urged China to adopt a more flexible currency exchange system, saying that removing the yuan's peg to the US dollar would be good for both Beijing and its neighbours.
Takenaka calls for money supply increase
Economic and fiscal policy minister Heizo Takenaka said the Bank of Japan and the government should work together to increase money supply growth to end more than six years of deflation.
SNB's Blattner on the new banknotes project
In a speech on Switzerland's new banknotes project given on 2 February, Niklaus Blattner of the Swiss National Bank said this step has become necessary because of the development of new technologies and the typically high demands on the design quality of…
Fed's Greenspan on Adam Smith
In a speech titled 'Adam Smith' given on 6 February Alan Greenspan of the Federal Reserve said that 18th-century philosopher Adam Smith was "a towering contributor to the development of the modern world."
RBA Statement on Monetary Policy, February 2005
The Reserve Bank of Australia published its February 2005 Statement on Monetary Policy on 7 February. After a strong year in 2004 the world economy retains momentum, with growth continuing to be led by the United States and China, the report says.
IMF paper on currency crises
This IMF Working Paper tests the implications of a number of theoretical models that attempt to highlight the dynamics behind currency crises. The empirical findings provide support for the view that a deterioration in economic fundamentals and the…
Book review - Samuel Brittan's 'Against the flow'
Samuel Brittan has been one of the Financial Times' leading columnists for nearly thirty years. This recently published book collects together the most important of his writings from the last three decades.
Fed's Gramlich says US should raise saving rate
Speaking on Monday 7 February, Federal Reserve Board Governor Edward Gramlich said that while the US economy was doing well, he was troubled by the nation's low saving rate.
Juncker says stability pact changes to be limited
Euro group president Jean-Claude Juncker said at the weekend that reform of the EU stability pact will be limited and will not harm economic stability.
G7 calls for increased exchange rate flexibility
G7 finance ministers and central bank governors have called for more flexibility in international exchange rates and warned that excess volatility would restrict global growth.
PBOC chief Zhou says China on track to reform
China is very much on the track toward an exchange rate reform in response to the demand of the world's richest nations for a more flexible exchange regime, China's central bank chief told Xinhua News in an interview.
IMF's gold to help relieve Third World debt?
Gold prices struggled to hold key support in Europe on Monday 7 February following confusion over what the IMF might do with its huge gold reserves to help relieve Third World debt.
Venezuela ratifies central bank president
Venezuela's National Assembly has ratified by simple majority, President Hugo Chavez' nomination of Gaston Parra Luzardo as the new president of the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV).
Interview with Bank of Canada's Tiff Macklem
In an interview published this week, Bank of Canada Deputy Governor Tiff Macklem said Canada's economy may take two or three years to adjust to a currency that rose more than 20 per cent since early 2003 and "there is probably some more adjustment to go".
Malawi names new central bank governor
President Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi has decided against renewing the contract of central bank governor Elias Ngalande, which expires at the end of this month, a government official said on Tuesday 1 February. Ngalande will be succeed by Victor Mbewe.
Capitalising central banks: A net worth approach
This IMF Working Paper provides a simple, quantitative, net worth-based, approach to assessing the need for central bank capital. It derives a concept of "core capital" as the minimum capital needed by a central bank to ensure the credibility of its…
PBOC's Xiaochuan on legal & financial system
In the speech 'Improve legal system and financial ecology' given on 2 December (published 28 Jan) Zhou Xiaochuan of the People's Bank of China told the "Forum of 50 Chinese Economists" that from the perspective of the central bank, he wishes them to work…
Nepal Rastra Bank appoints new governor
After a protracted dispute among the ruling parties, a cabinet meeting on Monday 31 January finally decided to appoint deputy governor Bijaya Nath Bhattarai as the new governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank.
BOT governor brushes off dismissal rumours
Bank of Thailand governor M.R. Pridiyathorn Devakula said this week that he had not been affected by rumours of his possible ousting from the central bank.
SARB to present upgraded banknotes to parliament
The South African Reserve Bank said on Friday 4 February that the upgraded banknotes, which went into circulation at the beginning of February, will be presented to members of Parliament in Cape Town on 7 February, ahead of the opening of Parliament.
New York Fed's Foreign Exchange Operations report
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said on Thursday 3 February in its quarterly report to the US Congress that the US monetary authorities did not intervene in the foreign exchange markets during the October - December 2004 quarter.