Central Banking
Bank Of Ghana to sack 1000 workers
A redundancy programme at the Bank of Ghana will affect 1000 of the central bank's 2600 staff. The Governor of the Bank summoned the workers to a meeting at the Bank's auditorium last Wednesday to inform them about the development, Ghana Web reported.
BOE George, Mortgage change to help UK adopt euro
Speaking on Monday in an interview with BBC radio, the outgoing Bank of England governor Sir Edward George said he was optimistic the UK economy was entering a period of more balanced growth, and that the government should not raise taxes in the near…
EU endorses Trichet as next ECB president
EU leaders have unanimously backed the appointment process of Bank of France Governor Jean-Claude Trichet as the next president of the ECB, according to EurActiv. Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker told reporters. "Jean-Claude Trichet will be…
Hooray for Trichet!
So the Paris courts have once and for all cleared Banque de France governor Jean-Claude Trichet and his predecessor Jacques de Larosiere from the unfounded allegations that had been made about their role in the Credit Lyonnais affair more than 10 years…
The Eddie and Gordon show
Praise was liberally showered on Sir Edward George at his City swansong, the annual Lord Mayor's banquet for the square mile's great and good - Eddie's 27th in a row. Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer, praised his integrity, steadfastness and…
Iraqi governor faces the mob
A central banker's lot doesn't really get much less appealing than that of Faleh Salman, the man now shouldered with the responsibility of running Iraq's sickly central bank. To avert total meltdown of what little remains of the Iraqi financial system,…
Balcerowicz survives
Embattled central bankers in Poland triumphed after a skirmish with finance minister Kolodko, who has now resigned after failing to sandbag the central bank into shelling out a further 5bn zlotys (having already parted with 9bn zlotys) from its…
Female deputy for the RBI
In a peculiar case of slighted honour, an executive director at the Reserve Bank of India resigned when the central bank followed in the Bank of England's footsteps by appointing its first female deputy governor last week.
Reddy for the top?
Incidentally, there is a rumour going around that the RBI governor himself, Bimal Jalan, is considering quitting in order to become a member of India's parliament (he first became governor in 1997 after a career largely in the finance ministry and was re…
Phantom resignation in Nigeria
Nigeria's central bank became the object of a bit of jiggery pokery recently when local media wrongly reported that the governor, Joseph Sanusi, had resigned. Newsmakers went to investigate, but could not locate the sources that had originated these …
Phantom resignation in Nigeria
Nigeria's central bank became the object of a bit of jiggery pokery recently when local media wrongly reported that the governor, Joseph Sanusi, had resigned. Newsmakers went to investigate, but could not locate the sources that had originated these …
Grilled Lambert
Richard Lambert was given a run for his money before Britain's Treasury Select Committee when prodded and poked over what on earth he was doing on the Bank of England's MPC (monetary policy committee) without an economics degree to his name.
Crockett honoured
Andrew Crockett always did have one of those names that look as if it is just waiting to have a "sir" in front of it. Now the space has been duly filled as the former central banker and general manager of the BIS received a knighthood from the Queen of…
Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey, Jun 2003
Manufacturing activity improved in June - Activity in the region's manufacturing sector improved modestly, according to the firms surveyed for June's Business Outlook Survey from the Philadelphia Fed. The reading for overall business activity increased…
Ferguson testimony on Basel II and H.R. 2043
In testimony on 'Basel II and H.R. 2043' Roger Ferguson of the Federal Reserve said plans for U.S. negotiators to meet with their international counterparts in November may not leave enough time for U.S. agencies to consider feedback from domestic banks…
Sveriges Riksbank predicts weaker exports
Minutes of the Sveriges Riksbank Executive Board meeting held on 4 June, published 18 June. The minutes said weaker international economic activity is expected to lead to a weaker development in Swedish exports and to postponement of the anticipated…
Gap in our knowledge about output and inflation
In this article in the Financial Times Samuel Brittan looks at the idea of discretionary fiscal policy replacing monetary policy once Britain is in the euro - a return to Keynesian demand management as some have describe it. The Treasury's proposal…
More delay in naming Bulgaria's cb governor
The naming of the new governor of the central bank of Bulgaria, scheduled for Friday 20 June, has been further delayed and is now expected next Thursday, 26 June, according to Novinite.
EU to keep Duisenberg at ECB until October
Wim Duisenberg will remain in his post until October, the Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis has said according to Bloomberg News. Trichet got the backing on Thursday 19 June of leaders of Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and Portugal, as well as Greece's…
RBI to get real time settlement system by year-end
Business Line reports that Vepa Kamesam, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India has said India's much awaited 'real time gross settlement system' will become operational before the end of the year.
CBN: Who wants Sanusi out ?
An article in the Nigerian Daily Times discusses the recent speculation over the resignation of the governor of the central bank of Nigeria (CBN) Joseph Sanusi. During the week he found himself learning about his resignation from the media the article…
Prosecutor won't appeal Trichet decision
The public prosecutor's office in Paris has said it will not appeal the decision to acquit Jean-Claude Trichet on charges of false accounting., according to a report by BizWorld.
Argentina to bar provinces from emitting scrip
The Argentine senate is likely to approve a law barring the provinces from producing quasi- currencies as required by the IMF under the loan accord, according to Bloomberg. The proposed law makes the central bank the only entity permitted to produce…
Inflation expectations crucial - SARB
The South African Reserve Bank suggested in its June quarterly bulletin that it expected inflation to hit its target later this year but it would largely depend on the extent to which price expectations conformed to trends, according to a report by…