Central Banking
RBNZ warns financial stability stakes higher
Reserve Bank of New Zealand Deputy Governor Adrian Orr warned in a speech in Napier to the New Zealand Society of Actuaries entitled "A prosperous but vulnerable nation" that the rise in New Zealand's external debt in recent years stresses the need for…
Papers from the RBA's 2004 Conference
The Reserve Bank of Australia published papers from its 2004 Conference "The future of inflation targeting" on 15 November. The papers include "Can central bank transparency go too far?", "Inflation measurement for central bankers" and "Inflation…
Chicago's Moskow on labor markets &energy prices
In a speech on 'Labor markets, energy prices, and the outlook for 2005' given on 16 November, Michael Moskow of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said that today, rather than heading toward a soft landing, the economy is approaching its cruising…
Bank of England MPC Minutes, 3&4 November
The minutes from the 3 and 4 November meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England were released on 17 November. The minutes showed that policymakers preparing their quarterly forecasts saw growth near trend and inflation on course to…
Bank of Canada issues new $50 banknote
The Bank of Canada put into circulation Canada's new $50 banknote on Wednesday 17 November. The new note will be distributed and become available across the country over the next few weeks.
Pianalto: Fed will monitor oil, act appropriately
The US Federal Reserve will take the steps needed to prevent a spike in energy prices from becoming entrenched in inflation, Cleveland Fed president Sandra Pianalto said on Wednesday 17 November.
PBoC's Zhou says policy to favour stability in 05
China's monetary policy will lean towards stability next year, Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, was quoted as saying in the China Securities Journal.
Fukui confident on China slowdown
Toshihiko Fukui, Governor of Bank of Japan expressed confidence about the prospects of both a soft landing of China's economy and the fast growth of the US economy.
South Korea's reserves hit new high
South Korea's foreign reserves rose to a new high in mid-November, helped by an increase in the dollar-conversion value of non-dollar assets, the Bank of Korea said Wednesday.
Greek deficits were under-reported
An investigation by Eurostat concluded on Monday 15 November that Greece had broken the three per cent of GDP deficit ceiling for membership of the Euro every year since 1997.
France's Noyer sees oil prices as main threat
The Governor of the Banque de France, Christian Noyer, identified high oil prices as the most significant threat to French growth, in an interview with French newspaper Les Echos.
IMF's Rato on Russian inflation threat
IMF Managing Director Rodrigo Rato warned Russian policymakers to focus on controlling inflation rather than stimulating growth, when he arrived on a visit to Moscow on Tuesday 16 November.
Fed's Olson on state of the US economy
Federal Reserve Governor Mark Olson spoke on Monday 15 November about the state of the US economy, and issued a warning to expect more rate rises as the economy recovers.
EU finance ministers voice concerns
Eurozone finance ministers, meeting in Brussels on Monday night, 16 November, avoided pressuring the ECB over interest rates or intervention to stabilize the euro, but did voice their concerns over the euro's strength against the dollar
Exchange rate policy and sovereign bond spreads
A recent IMF working paper claims to be the first empirical study on the impact of exchange rate policy on sovereign bond spreads in developing countries. The choice of exchange rate matters, the authors argue. They find that real exchange rate…
Riksbank deputy on the housing market
Increasing household debt and rising housing prices since the early 1990s have been of great interest to the Riskbank, said Lars Nyberg, a deputy governor, in a recent speech. The central bank and consumers must be vigilant although there do not "seem to…
Norway's buffer against rising oil prices
High oil and gas prices mean that Norway is running a sizable current account surplus for 2004, which could put upward pressure on the exchange rate. Last Friday, Jarle Bergo, a deputy governor at the Norges Bank, explained how this could affect Norway's…
Frankel on currency crises
In the 2004 Mundell-Fleming lecuture, given at the IMF on 5 November, Professor Jeffrey Frankel examines currency crisis, and their political fallout.
Macfarlane: Monetary Policy & Financial Stability
At a speech given in Melbourne, Reserve Bask of Australia governor, Ian Macfarlane highlights rising risks within the Australian home loan market.
Interview: Jacques de Larosière
Key European countries are guilty of “systematic slippage” in fiscal affairs. So says the former managing director of the IMF and governor of the Banque de France, Jacques de Larosière, in this week’s CentralBankNet Monday special
Easing out of Monetary Easing
As an end to deflation nears, the Bank of Japan faces the tricky question of how to leave behind its policy of "quantitative easing". The San Francisco Fed has some advice.
Caruana: what is next for Basel
Remarks by Mr Jaime Caruana, Governor of the Bank of Spain and Chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, at the "Basel II: Reality Check" Conference, London, 10 November 2004.
CDO rating methodology
New research paper from the Bank for International Settlements examines different methods of rating collateralised debt obligations (CDOs).
Reserve Bank of Fiji quarterly review, September
The Reserve Bank of Fiji expects "good growth" for the domestic economy in 2004 according to its third quarter review. "Upbeat" consumer spending, the "strong performance" of the cane and sugar industries and the "outstanding performance" of the tourism…