Central Banking
Russian bank chief hits at government policy
RUSSIA - Russian bank chief hits at government policy - Economic programme 'not properly thought through', says Gerashchenko.
Central banker discovers service ethos
ARTICLE - Salinee Wangtal, a veteran of the Bank of Thailand, became impressed with how commercial organisations cultivate a service-oriented culture to bolster their image when she had the chance to work in a publicly-listed bank.
C Bank of Lebanon launches new composite index
LEBANON - Banque du Liban launched a new composite index on 22 August, 2001.
Copom keep rates unchanged at 19% per year
BRAZIL - If the economic climate in Argentina is enough to keep the Central Bank in a state of alert, Brazil's weak second quarter GDP data only added to its concerns about the future of the Brazilian economy.
Australian economy 'immune' to turmoil - Costello
AUSTRALIA - Australia would be immune to looming global economic turmoil, Australian Treasurer Peter Costello said yesterday as the threat of recession looms larger for the US. Mr Costello predicted Australia would top the world economic growth table…
Pakistan forex reserves up $30 mln to $3.289 bln
PAKISTAN - Pakistan's central bank said on 23 August total liquid foreign exchange reserves were $3.289 billion as of 18 August, up by some 30 million dollars from the previous week's $3.259 billion.
Dutch central bank sold gold last week
NETHERLANDS - Data from the Dutch central bank on 21 August showed it sold gold for 39 million euros ($35.65 million) last week as part of its programme to sell 200 tonnes through 2004.
BSP eases ruling on bearer checks
PHILIPPINES - Banks may now resume issuing pay-to-cash checks after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reversed its earlier decision to ban so-called "bearer checks".
Kenya banks take govt to court over rate law
KENYA - Kenyan banks have taken the government to court to challenge a new law to regulate interest rates, as it would apply retroactively to loans already issued, officials said on 21 August.
Oman to enforce anti-money laundering law soon
OMAN - Dr. Sheikh Abdul Malik bin Abdullah al Hinai, Undersecretary for Economic Affairs, said the Sultanate will shortly apply a law to combat money laundering.
Backstrom: Sweden's economy is slowing down
SPEECH - Governor Urban Backstrom of Sveriges Riksbank, the Central Bank of Sweden, gave a speech on 20 August in Harnosand, Sweden.
To What Extent Does Productivity Drive the Dollar?
RESEARCH - The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has produced a research paper in its Current Issues in Economics and Finance series, Volume 7, Number 8, August 2001. The paper was written by Cedric Tille, Nicolas Stoffels, and Olga Gorbachev.
Survey from the Philadelphia Fed
SURVEY - The Survey of Professional Forecasters is the oldest quarterly survey of macroeconomic forecasts in the United States. The survey began in 1968 and was conducted by the American Statistical Association and the National Bureau of Economic…
Phil Fed - Economists cut US growth forecasts
US - The world's largest economy is likely to grow sluggishly for the rest of this year but will pick up again in 2002, according to a Federal Reserve bank survey of private forecasters released today, 23 August.
EMU debate crucial to long term health of Swedish
SWEDEN - With the Swedish krona suffering from classic symptoms of a small European currency remaining outside of European Monetary Union, its best hope of a sustained recovery may be an acceleration of the EMU debate and entry process, analysts say.
German growth slows to zero
GERMANY - Official figures confirmed the fact that the German economy slowed to a halt in the second quarter of the year.
IMF says cash to reserves, Argentina decides use
ARGENTINA - The International Monetary Fund reiterated on 22 August that the money Argentina will receive under its new $8 billion program will go to central bank reserves, but it is then up to the country to decide how to use it.
Hayami - BOJ won't adopt managed inflation policy
JAPAN - The Bank of Japan can't adopt high inflation targets that would involve measures to artificially reflate the economy, the central bank governor said 23 August.
Seoul pays off its IMF debts
SOUTH KOREA - South Korea has fully repaid the last instalment of a multi-billion dollar loan from the International Monetary Fund.
Juncker takes hard line on ECB reform
GERMANY - Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker was quoted on 22 August as saying a future reform of the European Central Bank's Governing Council should retain the principle of the equality of euro zone countries.
Kurdistan opens new central bank
KURDISTAN - Prime Minister of Kurdistan Regional government (Arbil) Nechirvan Barzany has officially opened the new building of Kurdistan Central Bank in Arbil.
Brazil rates will only fall after energy crisis
BRAZIL - The government will only be able to cut interest rates when energy supplies return to normal, which will probably only be in the second quarter of 2002, said former Central Bank chairman Carlos Geraldo Langoni on 21 August.
India to showcase dazzling Nizam jewels at last
INDIA - India's most dazzling array of jewellery goes on display for the first time next week amid hefty security for a collection which could be worth more than US $2 billion. The collection has been housed in the vault of India's central bank for years.
US rates cut for seventh time
UNITED STATES - The US Federal Reserve has cut interest rates for the seventh time this year in a continued attempt to revive the US economy.