Central Banking
International Economic Policy Under Clinton
SPEECH - Comments by Stanley Fischer, First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 27 June.
Euro's launch vital to debate in Sweden
SWEDEN - Goran Persson, Sweden's Social Democratic prime minister, believes the Scandinavian country could be a member of the single currency by 2005 if next January's introduction of euro notes and coins is a success.
Warning by IMF puts BoJ under pressure
JAPAN - Pressure on the Bank of Japan to ease monetary policy at its two-day meeting that starts today has been increased considerably by the International Monetary Fund's reversal of an earlier growth forecast and its warning that Japan would enter a…
Venezuelan c bank stokes fears of capital controls
VENEZUELA - Venezuela's central bank is rolling out measures aimed at bolstering its currency and stemming the flow of dollars out of the country.
EU candidates must join ERM on way to euro-Noyer
GERMANY - European Central Bank Vice President Christian Noyer said on 13 August countries seeking to join the single European currency must first keep their currencies loosely aligned with the euro for two years.
Ex-Im Bank signs MOU with Iranian bank
IRAN - The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Ex-Im Bank) has signed a 500-million-dollar deal with the Central Bank of Iran that would facilitate trade between the two countries.
C Bank head says new ex rate system successful
EGYPT - Prime Minister Dr Atif Ubayd 12 August presided over a meeting of the ministerial economic group which reviewed conditions on the exchange rate market and made an evaluation of the first week of the new exchange rate system and providing foreign…
C Bank names another bank to manage forex reserves
BRAZIL - The Central Bank has named Credit Agricole Asset Management as one of the financial institutions that will manage part of the US$35.3 billion of the bank's foreign currency reserves.
World Bank-IMF annual meet curtailed
US - The 2001 annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which were scheduled to be held in Washington between 27 September and 3 October, have been curtailed and will now be held for just two days, 29 September and 30.
French drop hope of replacing Duisenberg
GERMANY - France is apparently abandoning its hopes of replacing Dutch European Central Bank President Wim Duisenberg with a French president in 2002, when half of his eight-year term will be up, reports Der Spiegel.
LDP Yamamoto - Won't keep axe over BOJ gov head
JAPAN - Pumping up the pressure on the Bank of Japan to ease credit further to halt deflation, a leading ruling party critic of the central bank has moved a step closer to taking the BOJ Law into his own hands.
BOC governor Dodge wins guarded approval
ARTICLE - After six months on the job, Bank of Canada Governor David Dodge has secured solid, if somewhat tentative, approval ratings from Canada's central bank watchers.
Banks rushing to spruce up risk management
INDIA - Banks are rushing to put in place safeguards and controls to improve their risk management ability. Even as the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) draft guidelines on "risk management systems in banks" were put in October 1999, banks - especially…
Argentine contagion has not spread far says IMF
ARGENTINA - Financial distress in Argentina and Turkey has failed to spread to emerging markets in general despite a bleak outlook for investors, according to the International Monetary Fund, reports the Financial Times, London, 9 August.
World Bank optimistic on Russian reforms
RUSSIA - The World Bank's chief economist for Russia said he was cautiously optimistic about the outlook for the country, but banking reform and economic diversification were key tasks ahead.
C Bank of Brazil to cut number of market dealers
BRAZIL - The Central Bank has decided to reduce the number of its dealers (banks licensed to act for the Central Bank in the market) from 25 to 22, said bank director Sergio Goldenstein.
Japanese regulator punishes Citibank
JAPAN - The Japanese branch of Citibank, a part of Citigroup, the world's largest financial services company, has been punished by Japan's financial services agency, the country's chief financial regulator, for illegally helping clients to conceal losses.
IMF corrects its estimate of Philippine reserves
PHILIPPINES - The International Monetary Fund has acknowledged that the Philippine central bank's gross international reserves position is stronger than the fund's initial estimate, the bank said.
ECB Monthly Bulletin August 2001
REPORT - The European Central Bank has published its Monthly Bulletin for August. In the report the bank voiced concerns about the risks to growth in the eurozone, indicating for the first time that its forecasts for the year might be too optimistic.
Monetary policy in Thailand, Pridiyathorn Devakula
SPEECH - Pridiyathorn Devakula, The Governor of the Bank of Thailand, gave a speech at the APFA 2001 Conference, Bangkok, 24 July. The speech was titled Monetary Policy in Thailand: Current Challenges and Prospects.
IMF Quarterly Emerging Market Financing Report
REPORT - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday, 8 August, published on its website the latest Emerging Market Financing: Quarterly Report on Developments and Prospects, which covers the second quarter of 2001.
Mervyn King on the International Financial System
SPEECH - Speech by Mervyn King, Deputy Governor of the Bank of England at the 20th Anniversary of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations.
The Federal Reserve Beige Book
REPORT - The Federal Reserve has published on 8 August its regular Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District known as the Beige Book.
RBI pulls up IFCI for poor supervision
INDIA - The Reserve Bank of India has come down heavily on the Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI) for poor supervision of its loan portfolio, lack of proper asset liability management (ALM), rollover of sticky accounts and improper asset…