Central Banking
Simple answers in debate are likely to mislead
LETTER - Letter published in Thursday's Financial Times from Christopher Taylor a Visiting Fellow at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, London.
Russian law signed preserving c bank independence
RUSSIA - President Vladimir Putin has signed a federal law on the Central Bank of Russia, the presidential press service said on Thursday.
Russia change valuation of gold and forex reserves
RUSSIA - The Central Bank of Russia is changing the method for calculating the gold and foreign exchange reserves, Central Bank First Deputy Chairman Oleg Vyugin said on Thursday.
Ecuador's banks adopt electronic interbank system
ECUADOR - Ecuadorian banks have 60 days as of 27 June to adapt their systems to the central bank's electronic interbank payment system, Ecuadorian financial daily El Comercio reported.
Solomon Islands bank head - economy at rock-bottom
SOLOMON ISLANDS - Governor of Central Bank Rick Hou says Solomon Islands has hit rock-bottom as far as the economy is concerned.
MPs urge name change at the Bank of England
UK - Did you hear the one about the Scotsman, the Welshman, the Ulsterman and the Bank of England? The Scotsman newspaper reports on Thursday that the Bank of England was infact founded by a Scotsman and that the word "England" is inappropriate in the…
Friedman predicts euro's end within 15 years
GERMANY - The euro system will disintegrate within 15 years because of economic and cultural differences between member states, the Nobel Prize-winning US economist Milton Friedman says today, reported the UK's Independent newspaper on Thursday.
Financial regulation change brought closer for EU
BELGIUM - European Union finance ministers will tomorrow discuss a radical shake-up of banking and insurance regulation in an effort to bolster Europe's defences against future financial crises.
Speech by Wim Duisenberg, ECB President, 5 July
SPEECH - In his opening remarks to the International Research Forum on Monetary Policy Duisenberg said we have issues to address at the Forum which are at the heart of monetary policy-making, and which are of great relevance to central bankers worldwide.
Speech by H Kohler, Managing Director, IMF, 5 July
SPEECH - In a speech to the Central Bank Governors' Symposium titled 'Reform of the International Financial Architecture: A Work in Progress' Kohler acknowledged how much we depend on central bankers in our member countries. "Every day, you have to take…
Speech by Otmar Issing of the ECB, 5 July
SPEECH - In a speech titled 'Some reflections on handling monetary policy in a global environment' Issing said that coordinated policy action by central banks of the type seen after the September 11 attacks would likely remain limited to exceptional…
Speech by Eva Srejber of Sveriges Riksbank, 9 July
SPEECH - In the speech titled 'Inflation targeting and bubbles' Srejber said "there are many indications that the real economy effects of the severe stock market fall will be limited". But cautioned that, "it is not possible to write off the risk of…
BIS Press Release
PRESS RELEASE - Basel Committee reaches agreement on New Capital Accord issues, 10 July.
OECS undertakes economic restructuring programme
EASTERN CARIBBEAN - The governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), Sir Dwight Venner, says several activities are underway in the Eastern Caribbean to help the sub-region address serious economic difficulties.
Yugoslavia to issue €4.1bn of bonds
YUGOSLAVIA - Yugoslavia is set to issue €4.1bn worth of bonds in early August as part of its domestic debt settlement, which could pave the way for the creation of a liquid debt market, a Yugoslav central bank official said.
Polish c bank's new duties may be unconstitutional
POLAND - The Constitutional Tribunal is likely to judge the planned amendments to the legislation regulating the duties of Poland's central bank unconstitutional, claims Mieczyslaw Czarniawski, head of the parliamentary Public Finance Committee.
UAE central bank reports surge in national staff
UAE - The UAE's central bank reported a surge in the number of its national workers as it presses ahead with a job nationalisation drive to ease reliance on foreigners.
Trichet backed as Duisenberg's successor at ECB
GERMANY - Edmund Stoiber, currently leading to race to become German chancellor, issued strong backing for Bank of France governor Jean Claude Trichet as the best successor to Wim Duisenberg as European Central Bank president. Paris prosecutors recently…
Poland's central bank chief 'in the line of fire'
POLAND - The Polish owner of a shooting range has found himself in trouble over images of the central bank governor's face which have been used as targets.
Eurosystem currency reserves unchanged this week
GERMANY - The European Central Bank said eurosystem net foreign currency reserves were virtually unchanged at 232.6 mln euro in the week ending 5 July.
IMF and World Bank collaborate closely
LETTER - Letter published in the Financial Times on Wednesday from a former Deputy Managing Director of the IMF. P.R. Narvekar describes Joseph Stiglitz criticism of the IMF as "baseless and vicious".
MPs will quiz Brown on euro entry tests in autumn
UK - Gordon Brown is to face a Commons inquiry into the Treasury's five economic tests for euro entry after a hard-fought battle by opposition MPs to get the issue on the agenda.
ECB Press Release
PRESS RELEASE - Allotment amount of the longer-term refinancing operations in the second half of 2002, 10 July.
Speech by H Kohler, Managing Director, IMF, 4 July
SPEECH - In evidence before the UK Parliament's Treasury Select Committtee titled 'The IMF in the Process of Change' Kohler said "we have seen a near revolution in the transparency of the IMF, and in the release of economic and financial data by our…