Central Banking
Chicago Fed Letter, February 2002
REPORT - According to research in the latest Chicago Fed Letter, improvements in average worker skill levels have slowed and are likely to continue to slow the rest of this decade, which could negatively impact U.S. productivity growth in years to come.
IMF News Brief, 28 January
NEWS BRIEF - IMF, World Bank and IDB Working Closely to Help Argentina.
Argentina seeks US backing
ARGENTINA - Argentina's government has begun crucial financial talks in Washington, as forecasts show the economy is set to contract sharply this year despite the devaluation of the peso.
Japan jobless rate hits new high
JAPAN - Japan's unemployment has reached a new record high of 5.6%.
IMF team says dollar best currency for Afghanistan
AFGHANISTAN - A team of International Monetary Fund and World Bank experts visiting Afghanistan said on Tuesday it would make sense for the country to switch to the U.S. dollar in the short term.
ECB's Issing points to signs of recovery
SPAIN - Otmar Issing, the chief economist of the European Central Bank, said in an interview "the first signs of recovery are now appearing, but we still have to see what will be its scale. And we cannot rule out that it will end up being stronger than…
Australia's Res Bank appoint head of domestic mkts
AUSTRALIA - The Reserve Bank of Australia said Tuesday it has appointed Philip Lowe as head of its domestic markets department.
Govt plans supervisory board for Bank Indonesia
INDONESIA - The government plans to set up a supervisory board within Bank Indonesia as one of several measures under the new central bank bill to increase its accountability.
Bank of Latvia president nominates his deputy
LATVIA - Bank of Latvia president Ilmars Rimsevics has nominated as his deputy Andris Ruselis, the vice-president of Balta and Latva insurance companies, reported the Latvian parliament press service.
China considers central bank role
CHINA - China's policy makers appear to be contemplating the future role of the People's Bank of China as banking supervisor as the country prepares to open its financial system to foreign competition.
Basel Committee on Banking Supervision
REPORT - The Quantitative Impact Study for Operational Risk: Overview of Individual Loss Data and Lessons Learned, 28 January.
BIS Press Release
PRESS RELEASE - BIS international consolidated banking statistics - third quarter of 2001 released 28 January.
BIS consolidated international banking statistics
REPORT - The BIS consolidated international banking statistics - third quarter 2001 released 28 January.
Monetary developments in the euro area
REPORT - Monetary developments in the euro area: December 2001, released by the European Central Bank, 28 January.
Speech by Shigemitsu Sugisaki of the IMF
SPEECH - In the speech titled 'Global Prospects after September 11 and Implications for Japan' Sugisaki said that the Bank of Japan should set a deadline to end deflation and stop a cycle of falling prices in the world's second largest economy.
IMF official calls for Japan deflation deadline
US - A top International Monetary Fund (IMF) and former Japan Finance Ministry official said on Friday the Bank of Japan should set a deadline to end deflation and stop a cycle of falling prices in the world's second largest economy.
Argentine economy 'to shrink by 5%'
ARGENTINA - Argentina's economy is set to contract sharply this year, despite the devaluation of the peso. The country has been in recession for four years now
Wellink - Euro may add 0.25% to Dutch inflation
NETHERLANDS - Dutch Central Bank President and European Central Bank governing council board member Nout Wellink said Monday he expected the introduction of the euro to add around a quarter of a percentage point to inflation in the Netherlands.
Credit card clean-up in Australia
AUSTRALIA - The Reserve Bank of Australia is poised to make sweeping changes to credit card regulations in 2002. Should it prohibit the banks' interchange fee structure, as has already been flagged, Australia's banks will lose a collective $A400 million…
Noyer - Rate cut possible, strong dollar a worry
GERMANY - European Central Bank Vice-President Christian Noyer says a slight cut in interest rates depends on the speed of economic recovery and the behaviour of wage negotiators, the Boersen-Zeitung reports.
Decision on Noyer successor possible in March
GERMANY - A decision on the successor to European Central Bank Vice President Christian Noyer is possible at the forthcoming EU summit in March, the Boersen-Zeitung reports, citing EU currency affairs commissioner Pedro Solbes.
Speech by Urban Backstrom of Sveriges Riskbank
SPEECH - Urban Backstrom said in the speech that in order to reduce the risk of financial market imbalances, it is important that we have a well thought-out legislative, regulatory and supervisory infrastructure that functions properly and follows any…
Speech by Dr Bimal Jalan, Reserve Bank of India
SPEECH - In the speech 'India and Globalisation' Bimal Jalan said that Indians have to increase their work efficiency and productivity to match global standards. India is nowhere even close to being globalised in terms of the commonly used indicators…
Testimony of Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan
SPEECH - In his testimony before the US Senate titled 'The state of the economy' Greenspan said that the US economy seemed finally to be climbing out of recession.