Central Banking
IMF's Kohler calls for ECB rate cut
EUROPE - International Monetary Fund Managing Director Horst Koehler said the European Central Bank should cut interest rates soon to help boost the economy.Koehler said he believes a drop in rates would stimulate growth, adding that central bankers must…
Russian Central Bank boosts assets 19%
RUSSIA - The Central Bank of Russia increased its assets from 1.72 trillion rubles to 2.04 trillion rubles, or 19.2%, in the first eight months of 2002, the Central Bank reported. Assets slipped 2% in August.
Speech by Yeo Lian Sim, MAS, 19 Sep
SPEECH - In the speech titled 'Hedge Funds: A Mainstream Alternative' Sim said the MAS will maintain its calibrated approach towards the regulation of hedge funds and hedge fund managers. She said it will also continue to build on the three pillars of…
EconSouth from the Atlanta Fed Third Quarter 2002
PUBLICATION - The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta has published its regular online magazine, EconSouth, for the Third Quarter 2002. The main feature of the latest edition is 'The Impact of Oil Prices On Economic Activity'.
European Parliament Press Release, 3 Oct
PRESS RELEASE - ECB President to meet the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, Tuesday 8 October.
Russia's for ex reserves up again in September
RUSSIA - Russia's international reserves grew 1.292bn dollars, or 2.9 per cent in September, to 45.619bn dollars from 44.327bn dollars.
Mrs Duisenberg may be taken to court - report
NETHERLANDS - Gretta Duisenberg, wife of European Central Bank president Wim Duisenberg, is in trouble again.
BSP urged to monitor forex trading activities
PHILIPPINES - The peso continued to succumb to the dollar-buying pressure yesterday as it closed 3 centavos weaker to a fresh 14-month low of 52.68 to $1, prompting Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho to ask the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the central…
New Afghan currency to come into circulation 7 Oct
AFGHANISTAN - The head of Da Afghanistan Bank, the central bank, Dr Anwar al-Haq Ahadi, has said the new currency will be put into circulation on 15 Mizan [7 October 2002] and said that the exchange process of the old currency for the new one will be…
Egypt's Mubarak in charge of central bank
EGYPT - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Thursday that the central bank would come under his office's supervision, in a bid to deal with an estimated $2,6bn bad debt problem affecting local banks.
Canberra may halt issue of government bonds
AUSTRALIA - Australia, which has one of the lowest national debts in the world, is considering stopping the issue of government bonds and running down its existing portfolio in what local economists say would be a first for a developed country.
Speech by Shane Tregillis, MAS, 4 Sep
SPEECH - In the speech titled 'A Newfound Importance Of Non-Bank FIs in Asia' Tregillis said that to develop the regulation of capital markets in Singapore the first thing needed is to update the content of regulation so that it responds to changes in…
Speech by Gary Stern, Minneapolis Fed Bank, 19 May
SPEECH - In the speech titled 'Reflections on Business, Government and Reputation' Stern said "recent leaders of the Federal Reserve, namely Paul Volcker and Alan Greenspan, are I think widely and deservedly perceived as men of unquestioned integrity and…
Speech by W. McDonough, New York Fed Bank, 29 Sep
SPEECH - In the speech titled 'Issues in Corporate Governance' McDonough used part of it to return to a topic he discussed recently, executive compensation. He said that in his view, public policy should aim to eliminate distorting incentives and to…
Speech by Yutaka Yamaguchi, Bank of Japan, 30 Aug
SPEECH - In the speech titled 'Monetary Policy in a Changing Economic Environment' and published on 1 October by the Bank of Japan, Yamaguchi said that the Bank of Japan's experience showed that price stability, by making low interest rate possible, can…
Speech by Charles Freedman, Bank of Canada, 2 Oct
SPEECH - In the speech titled 'The Role of Inflation Targets in the Canadian Economy' Freedman said that a monetary policy framework based on an explicit target for inflation has helped the Canadian economy to weather shocks, and will continue to do so…
Central Banker, Fall 2002
REPORT - The Fall 2002 edition of the St. Louis Fed's Central Banker magazine has been published. This edition includes articles on why some changes in the retail payment market may be causing confusion for consumers and looks at the St Louis Fed's new…
Bank of Estonia - Annual Report 2001
ANNUAL REPORT - The Bank of Estonia has published its Annual Report for the year ended 2001.
Bank of Korea says FX reserves reach $116.69bn
KOREA - The Bank of Korea (BOK) announced yesterday that Korea's foreign exchange reserves stood at $ 116.69 billion as of the end of September 2002, increasing by $ 150 million from the end of August.
Afghan trade minister speaks of new currency
AFGHANISTAN - The trade minister of Afghanistan, Sayd Mostafa Kazemi, has said that Afghanistan has a positive view on capital and capital investment. He also said the new currency of Afghanistan will be a credible currency and our central bank has the…
Baht slide part of regional trend-Bank of Thailand
THAILAND - The recent depreciation of the baht was in line with other regional currencies, the Bank of Thailand said yesterday.
Bank of Canada warns on inflation rate
CANADA - The Bank of Canada said yesterday inflation would remain higher than expected until the middle of 2003 but analysts said it was still too close to call whether the bank will raise interest rates at its next policy announcement on 16 October.
Interest rates will fall says New Zealand's Cullen
NEW ZEALAND - Interest rates should start to come down following the change to the Reserve Bank's inflation target, New Zealand Finance Minister Michael Cullen told the Financial Times in London Thursday.
IMF delegation arrives in Tajikistan
TAJIKISTAN - A delegation from the International Monetary Fund led by [the head of the IMF mission in Tajikistan] Mr Robert Christiansen has arrived in Dushanbe today, Thursday.