Central Banking
BoC's Dodge says he favours global trade strategy
Speaking on Monday 17 November, David Dodge said floating currencies can act as "shock absorbers" by rising and falling in response to economic conditions, according to Canadian Press. A floating Canadian dollar has provided "a real advantage" for Canada…
IMF: South Korea on road to recovery
The IMF has forecast growth rates of 4.75 percent in 2004 and 5.5 percent in 2005 for South Korea, according to CNN. The Fund's Asia-Pacific chief Joshua Felman said on Tuesday 18 November that the Korean economy was on its way to recovery, but stressed…
Bank of Israel: Abolish fluctuation band now
Bank of Israel deputy division head David El-Kayam has recommended abolishing Israel's exchange rate fluctuation band and switching to a fully floating exchange rate regime, according to Globes Online. "It seems that right now, when the chances of…
Euro inflation falls to three-month low
The annual rate of inflation in the eurozone fell to its lowest level in three months in October as energy, transport and entertainment costs declined, Reuters reports. Eurostat said on Tuesday 18 November that the rate fell to 2.0 percent on a year-on…
Russian central bank holds rigid ruble policy
Oleg Vyugin, first deputy chairman of the Russian central bank, said on Monday 17 November, "So far the Central Bank is not ready to use foreign exchange policy to a full extent to meet inflation target", according to Reuters. His comments followed calls…
Moskow on communicating U.S. monetary policy
In a speech on 'Formulating and Communicating U.S. Monetary Policy' given on 13 November, Michael Moskow of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said despite all of our econometric models and equations, monetary policy is still more of an art than a…
Caruana: Challenges for European monetary policy
In a speech on 'The European monetary policy: main challenges in the current environment' given on 13 November, Jaime Caruana of the Bank of Spain said the New Accord, the so-called Basel II, is based on three pillars: risk-sensitive minimum capital…
ECB new ruling on central bank capital
CentralBankNet investigates a new ruling by the ECB with wide implications for all the central banks of the euro area. The present situation, under which the national central banks are in effect national investment funds, is uncomfortable. If the ECB…
RBZ calls for concerted fight against inflation
Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank called for a concerted fight against inflation last Thursday, 13 November, according to Associated Press. In its latest weekly economic highlights it said "Given the vagaries of high inflation in the economy, the need for…
Finnish gov't approves central bank Board plan
Finland's government approved a measure on Thursday 13 November, according to Helsingin Sanomat, that would see responsibility for the appointment of members to the Board of the Bank of Finland shift to the Parliamentary Supervisory Council.
Cayman Islands Monetary Authority Annual Report 02
The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority has published its Annual Report for the year ended 2002. Managing Director Cindy Scotland said: "It has been yet another busy year for the Monetary Authority most notably in terms of the preparation for independence,…
SARB's inflation targeting made simpler
Changes have been made to the South African Reserve Bank's inflation target making the central bank's task easier, Governor of the SARB, Tito Mboweni said, reports Finance 24. In future it will target the year on year CPIX rate on a continuous basis,…
Thai c bank deputy says: 'Need breathing space'
In a recent interview reported by Dow Jones, deputy governor Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala of the Bank of Thailand said Thailand's recent restrictions on the foreign exchange market will only be temporary, until the domestic market is sufficiently…
BoE's Large on financial stability
In a speech on 'Financial Stability: Maintaining Confidence in a Complex World' given on 17 November, Andrew Large of the Bank of England said he echoed the views expressed recently by Callum McCarthy, in his speech to the European Policy Forum. The FSAP…
Debt reduction could impact on UK rates
Andrew Large said on Monday 17 November that if personal debt was reduced in the UK it could have an impact on interest rates, Reuters reports. In a speech to the City of London Central Banking Conference the Bank of England's Deputy Governor for…
Bundesbank warns eurozone rates may rise soon
The Bundesbank said in its November monthly report, released on Monday 17 November, that the ECB "could" be forced to raise interest rates as "It will be more difficult for monetary policy to guarantee price stability with low interest rates" with some…
China restate goal of eventual yuan convertibility
People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said in an interview published Monday 17 November, reported by Reuters, that foreign exchange controls would gradually be relaxed and there would be a steady push towards convertibility of the yuan.
Riksbank makes statement on 'banknote discrepancy'
Sveriges Riksbank, the central bank of Sweden, released a statement on Friday 14 November regarding a discrepancy which had been discovered in a delivery of new banknotes from Crane AB to the Riksbank's subsidiary.
Interview: Lars Svensson
Lars E.O. Svensson, professor of economics at Princeton University since 2001, is among the most prominent academic advocates of inflation targetting. He is an adviser to the Sveriges Riksbank and a member of the Economic Advisory Panel of the Federal…
ECB's Solans on changeover to the euro currency
In a speech on 'The changeover to the euro currency' given on 13 November, Eugenio Domingo Solans of the ECB said based on the positive experience we have so far made with the euro and its smooth introduction, we can be confident that we will cope with…
Bundesbank's Remsperger on economic policy making
In a speech on 'Current challenges facing economic policy-makers' given on 3 November, Hermann Remsperger of the Deutsche Bundesbank said given the adjustments at the enterprise level, the urgently required reforms in the labour market and fiscal and…
Bank of Canada Review, Autumn 2003
The Bank of Canada published its Review for Autumn 2003 on 13 November. The Review includes articles titled "An Evaluation of Fixed Announcement Dates" "Recent Labour Market Developments in Canada" and "Developments, Issues, and Initiatives in Retail…
ECB publishes results of its bank lending survey
The European Central Bank published the report on the results of the October 2003 bank lending survey for the euro area on 13 November. The bank lending survey has been developed by the Eurosystem in order to enhance the understanding of bank lending…
IAIS launch improved website
The International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) has launched its new improved website at www.iaisweb.org. The website includes an extensively improved navigation and information layout, an elegant new design, information on forthcoming…