Central Banking
BoE's Barker on housing market and wider economy
In a speech on 'The housing market and the wider economy' given on 24 January, Kate Barker of the Bank of England said UK house prices are likely to continue falling, though the effect on consumer spending won't be as big as in the past.
Da Afghanistan Bank appoints first deputy governor
At the proposal of the governor of Da Afghanistan Bank, the central bank, and following the approval by the president Hamed Karzai, Sameollah Ebrahimi has been appointed first deputy governor of the central bank, the BBC Monitoring Service reported…
New directors for Chicago Fed
Two new members of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's board of directors were announced on 10 January, as well as one new member of the bank's Detroit Branch board. In addition, the chairmen of both boards and the Seventh District representative to…
New website speculates on World Bank top job
A new website dedicated to airing speculation on who will succeed James Wolfensohn as the next president of the World Bank is offering the rumours and gossip on who is in the running to take the job.
Venezuela's Chavez nominates Parra as BCV chief
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias has proposed economist Gaston Parra as his choice for the presidency of the Venezuelan Central Bank (BCV).
Interview with Bank of Finland's Liikanen
In an interview published on Thursday 20 January, the Governor of the Bank of Finland, Erkki Liikanen, strongly defended the Stability and Growth Pact of the European Union. He expressed concern that financial discipline and budgetary restraint in the…
Fischer approved as Bank of Israel governor
Israel's state appointments committee approved the nomination of renowned American economist Stanley Fischer late on Tuesday 18 January as chief of Israel's central bank.
Hungary's Monetary Council elects deputy chairman
The National Bank of Hungary (MNB) has elected Henrik Auth as deputy chairman of its Monetary Council in order to conform with the changes to the Central Bank Act passed in December 2004.
Yushchenko's swearing in set for 23 Jan
Viktor Yushchenko, former governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, will be sworn in as Ukraine's president on Sunday 23 January, ending a two-month standoff over disputed election results.
BMA gets new governor after reshuffle
The king of Bahrain, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, made a ministerial reshuffle this week which saw Bahrain Monetary Agency Governor Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, named Finance Minister on Saturday 15 January.
Albania's Fullani on monetary policy challenges
In a speech on 'Monetary policy challenges in the framework of approximating the Bank of Albania to the European Central Bank' given on 8 December, Ardian Fullani of the Bank of Albania said much importance will be given to the institutional development…
BoE's King on fiscal discipline
In a speech given on 20 January, Mervyn King of the Bank of England called on UK chancellor Gordon Brown to maintain "prudent" government borrowing over the medium term. He also said it would be "foolish" to place too much weight on UK retail sales…
Bank of Japan Monthly Report, January 2005
The Bank of Japan released the English version of its January 2005 monthly report on 21 January. The report said that the Japanese economy will continue recovering despite some soft patches, leaving its view unchanged from December.
Geithner with a view from the New York Fed
In the speech 'A view from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York' given on 19 January, Timothy Geithner of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said the U.S. expansion has proven quite resilient and we enter the new year with what appears to be a pretty…
The ECB's new premises
Jean-Claude Trichet, the ECB president, unveiled the bank's final choice for its new building at a press conference on Thursday 20 January, saying it will not only come to symbolise Frankfurt and European unity, but develop into a "global icon".
Interview with ECB's Gonzalez-Paramo
In an interview published on Friday 21 January, ECB Executive Board member Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo said the underlying Regulations of the Stability and Growth Pact should not be changed, but its implementation could be improved. Asked about the ECB's…
Greek, Turkish supervisors to exchange information
Greece's central bank said that it will sign a cooperation agreement with Turkey's Banking Regulatory and Supervisory Agency regarding the exchange of information.
Foreign central banks resume buying debt says Fed
Data released on Thursday 20 January by the Federal Reserve showed foreign central banks resumed buying US Treasuries in the latest week, but cut their agency holdings for a second week.
Takenaka says Japan 'no longer in post-bubble era'
Japan's economic and fiscal policy minister Heizo Takenaka said the world's second largest economy is "no longer in the post-bubble era," the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported.
IMF's Rajan: World economy to slow down this year
Raghuram Rajan, chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, said that 2004 was an excellent year for world growth in the last two-three decades but don't expect 2004 to be repeated in 2005.
ECB's Papademos sees improving growth
European Central Bank Vice President Lucas Papademos said in an interview on Thursday 20 January that economic growth will speed up this year and inflation will slow.
Interview with vice governor, Central Bank of Iran
In a recent interview Mohammed Jafar Mojarrad, vice-governor of Bank Markazi, Iran's central bank, spoke about the latest developments in the economy and the financial sector. He said there are two main challenges currently facing Iran: unemployment and…
Fed's Consumer Advisory Council appointments 2005
The Federal Reserve Board on Friday 7 January named eleven new members to its Consumer Advisory Council for three-year terms and designated a new Chair and Vice Chair of the Council for 2005.
PBOC, modelled on Fed, bows to politics
When China's top policy makers set out to streamline the country's 57-year-old central bank system six years ago, they chose the U.S. Federal Reserve as a model, this article says. But while the People's Bank may be gaining clout as China's economy grows…