Central Banking
Should central banks regulate credit card schemes?
Yes, according to Australia's federal court, which has just ruled that Visa and MasterCard should be subject to regulation by the Reserve Bank of Australia. In this weeks Monday Special CentralBankNet examines the impact of the case.
Fed's Greenspan on Financial Education
In a speech on 'Financial Education' given on 26 September Alan Greenspan of the Federal Reserve said the financial marketplace has grown increasingly complex since the era four decades ago when all Americans needed to know was how to write a check and…
Interview with BIS General Manager Malcolm Knight
In an interview conducted on 25 September, Bank for International Settlements general manager Malcolm Knight said "It would be likely that Basel II would assign India a sovereign risk weight of 50 percent instead of the 100 percent it receives under the…
Minehan on the current state of the US economy
In a speech given on 25 September Cathy Minehan of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston said the robust growth most analysts expect for this quarter and next seems assured, and that should help sustain the economy next year. "There are downside risks to be…
San Francisco Fed on Robert Parry's retirement
San Francisco Fed statement, 25 September, on Robert Parry's decision to retire in June 2004. The Chairman of the Board of Directors said "Bob's leadership of the Bank, his contributions to the communities we serve, and his monetary policy expertise will…
Persson: Swedish economy after the EMU referendum
Deputy Governor of the Sveriges Riksbank Kristina Persson gave a speech on 29 September at the Business Economists club in Sundsvall under the heading "The Swedish economy after the EMU referendum". She said in the longer term, her personal conviction is…
Report says Korean bank notes last longer
A report produced by the Bank of Korea says Korean bank notes are more durable than paper money from the USA, Canada and Britain, according to a report by Digital Chosun. The average durability of a W10,000 note was 54 months, much longer than the 18…
Boston Fed's Minehan: recovery should be sustained
In her first detailed comments on the economy since March, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Cathy Minehan said, according to Reuters, that consumer spending seems to be on pace to grow by 4 percent this quarter, and business spending should…
Economist Franco Modigliani dies aged 85
Franco Modigliani, winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1985, has died aged 85, according to the Financial Times. Modigliani made major contributions to macroeconomics - particularly the "life-cycle" savings hypothesis and taught at MIT from 1962…
Tito Mboweni addresses threats to inflation target
South African Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni said on Friday 26 September, according to Finance 24, that the SARB still had much to do to conquer inflation expectations in the country, which at between 8% and 9% were currently far higher than the…
Politician calls for Bank of Canada investigation
An opposition politician in Canada has called for a full investigation by the government into the role Bank of Canada governor David Dodge may have played in a financial scandal which emerged while Dodge was deputy minister for health, Reuters reports.
Greenspan says education needed to combat fraud
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Friday 26 September that the financial marketplace has grown increasingly complex since four decades ago, when all Americans needed to know was how to write a check and open a savings account, according to…
France facing heavy fines over budget excesses
EU Monetary Affairs Commissioner Pedro Solbes said on Monday 29 September that unless France changed its budget plans for 2004 by next week it faced heavy fines. according to Ireland Online."We are considering a specific set of recommendations to France,…
Fake euro coins hit Belgium
The National Bank of Belgium has found its first fake euro coins, according to Expatica News. The coins were discovered when a batch was returned to the central bank as stock. The fake one and two euros were described by the Treasury as of very high…
Central banks: What to achieve & how to get there
This article in the Independent newspaper says that underneath it all, central bankers are ordinary folk, and they, too, face difficulties in achieving what they want. At the Bank of England, the Monetary Policy Committee's life has been relatively short…
Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin, Autumn 2003
The Bank of England released its Quarterly Bulletin, Autumn 2003, on 26 September. The Bulletin includes articles titled 'Public expectations of UK inflation' and 'The optimal rate of inflation: an academic perspective'. The report also warns that…
Guynn: The economic outlook appears brighter
In the speech 'The Fog Is Lifting - and the Economic Outlook Appears Brighter' Jack Guynn of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta said the outlook for the economy is bright and he anticipates more solid and broad-based growth ahead. Boosted by higher…
Chicago Fed National Activity Index, August 2003
The latest Chicago Fed National Activity Index for August 2003 was published on 25 September indicates that economic activity slowed in August. The CFNAI was -0.28 in August, a deterioration from the upward revised July reading of +0.05.
Poole on Self-Regulation in Pension Systems
In a speech on 'The Role of Self-Regulation and Voluntary Compliance Incentives in the Design of Pension Systems' William Poole of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis said the United States does not have a perfect pension system. Indeed, the system…
RBA, Council of Financial Regulators Annual Report
The 2002 Council of Financial Regulators' Annual Report was released by the Reserve Bank of Australia, 25 September. The powerful Council of Financial Regulators - made up of the Reserve Bank, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and the…
Swiss Nat Bank to sell 284 tonnes gold by Sep 2004
The Swiss National Bank said on Friday 26 September that it plans to sell 284 tonnes of gold from excess reserves by the end of September 2004 and aims to offload another 130 tonnes in 2005, according to a report by Reuters.
San Francisco Fed's Parry to retire in June
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Robert Parry is to retire in June 2004, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. No successor was named to Parry, who turns 65 in May, but the bank said that it has begun a nationwide search for a…
Russian central bank awards accountancy contract
The central bank of Russia has awarded a contract to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland, Reuters reports. The aim of the project, led by PriceWaterHouse Coopers, is to increase the efficiency of the Russian central bank through the…
Brazil's cen bank: Economy showing recovery signs
The Banco Central do Brasil has said that the economy is showing signs of recovery and that they now view inflation as a lesser of the threats to the country's economy, according to MENAFN.