Central Banking
Argentina c bank to issue new 3-year notes
The central bank of Argentina said on Monday 1 December that it will auction new NOBAC notes with an 8.0 percent coupon, Reuters reports. The bank will offer 25 million pesos ($8.4 million) worth of NOBAC and a further 25 million pesos of a similar…
Euro periphery may suffer from pact weakening
The fallout from last week's decisions on the stability and growth pact could impact on the bond markets of countries with less fiscally prudent reputations than Germany and France, according to a report by Reuters. Rating agency Standard & Poor's said…
Taiwan to relax ban on Chinese currency import
Taiwan's Ministry of Finance has said that travellers will not have to declare sums of 6,000 yuan or less which are brought into the country under new laws, according to a report by Associated Press. Travellers are currently banned from bringing China's…
Mboweni says price stability is SARB's aim
South African Reserve Bank governor Tito said on Monday 1 December that price stability remains the central bank's core objective, according to Finance 24. "Monetary policy will continue to focus on the objective of price stability" and the outlook for…
New Malaysian PM backs currency peg
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the recently elected Prime Minister of Malaysia, has said he favours the pegging of the country's currency to the US dollar. "I find that our exchange rate mechanism is very beneficial to our economy," Abdullah told a news…
OECD: Japan needs to fix its price problem
The OECD has urged continued reforms in Japan to allow a sustained recovery, according to a report by Pacific Business News. OECD economist Yutaka Imai called on the Japanese government to stimulate economic activity to stop prices from slipping.
Hardest working man in central banking
The title undoubtedly goes to Jaime Caruana, governor of the Bank of Spain, chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, and a member of the governing board of the European Central Bank. The frequent flyer miles are piling up as Mr Caruana…
Trichet the internationalist
Jean-Claude Trichet, the new president of the ECB, has a reputation as a polished performer. He lived up to it at his first press conference in Frankfurt: first praising his predecessor, apologising when consistency necessitated repetition and peppering…
Slimming down the Bank of Spain
SPECIAL FEATURE - Like all the central banks of the Eurosystem, the Bank of Spain is grappling with the implications of its status as one central bank within the larger federal. CentralBankNet reports from Madrid on how the restructuring is being carried…
ECB's Trichet on financial stability
In a speech on 'Financial stability' given on 26 November, Jean-Claude Trichet of the ECB said the issues generated by the fast evolution of the financial system are very complex and demanding for public authorities. He added that some elements of the…
Tumpel-Gugerell on ECB's monetary policy issues
In a speech on 'ECB's Monetary Policy Issues in the Run-up to Enlargement' given on 14 November, Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell of the ECB said the ECB is interested in assisting acceding countries on their way to monetary integration the best way it can. The…
Sweden's Nyberg on financial stability issues
In a speech on 'Current financial stability issues' given on 25 November, Lars Nyberg of the Sveriges Riksbank said the Nordic central banks have a joint working group for discussing cross-border crises, and we have drawn up a memorandum of understanding…
New Hong Kong banknotes
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has announced that its new series of HK$100 and HK$500 banknotes will be put into circulation from 15 December.
Bahrain to host cb governors for IFSB Council meet
Bahrain will host the 3rd meeting of the Council of the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) next week, according to AME info. The governor of the Bahrain Monetary Agency said "We are delighted to host such an important gathering of central bank…
BoJ to inject $9.1 billion to help stabilize mkt
The Bank of Japan is prepared to inject $9.1 billion into the financial system in an effort to stabilise markets, according to Associated Press. PM Junichiro Koizumi approved a decision on Saturday 29 November to purchase all of Ashikaga Financial Group…
US Fed to expand ACH payment system to Latin Am
Atlanta Fed officials have said that the Federal Reserve's ACH payment system will be expanded to include a Latin American country in 2004, according to Business News America, but the Atlanta retail payments office did not reveal the country due to…
Buba chief concerned about euro stability, growth
Bundesbank President Ernst Welteke said in an article published at the weekend by Welt am Sonntag that the Stability and Growth Pact has "not yet been buried," but it has been seriously damaged by the decision taken in Brussels. "It is now decisively…
BSP and SEC will jointly oversee money changers
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Securities and Exchange Commission have agreed jointly to monitor operations of money changers and non-bank remittance centers. The central bank will regulate these firms while the SEC will supervise them, BSP governor…
West African central bank host to be named
The location of the West African Central Bank (WACB) will be decided in Ghana next month, according to Vanguard. Nigeria, Ghana and Guinea have all expressed an interest in hosting the WACB.
EBRD sees no sign of banking crisis in Russia
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's senior economist, Ivan Szegvari, has said that Russia is not in danger of a banking crisis similar to August 1998, according to Interfax. At the presentation of the EBRD's report on transition…
Trichet testifies before European Parliament
In testimony before the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament given on 1 December Jean-Claude Trichet of the ECB said since Wim Duisenberg's last testimony in September data have confirmed the ECB's main scenario, which is…
ECB chief: Euro economy recovering
Jean-Claude Trichet urged France and Germany to respect European Union budget rules on Monday 1 December in testimony before the European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, according to a report by CNNmoney. He said "It is, in the…
Federal Reserve Board - Beige Book, November 2003
The Federal Reserve released its November 2003 survey of Current Economic Conditions, known as the Beige Book, on 26 November. The survey said the US economy is now in a broad-based expansion. "Reports received from the district banks suggest that the…
Bank of Japan Monthly Report, November 2003
The Bank of Japan published the English version of its November 2003 Monthly Report of Recent Economic and Financial Developments on 26 November. The Report said the economy was recovering - effectively upgrading its assessment for the third straight…