Central Banking
Sweden's Riksbank leaves repo rate unchanged
SWEDEN - Sweden's central bank, Sveriges Riksbank, left its key repo rate unchanged at 3.75% Tuesday 16 October, as expected, in conjunction with the release of its latest inflation report.
Thai central bank head: IMF satisfied with rates
THAILAND - The governor of the Bank of Thailand, Pridiyathorn Devakula, said Monday 15 October that the management team of the International Monetary Fund was satisfied with the level of the bank's policy signalling interest rate.
Hearing on nominees to US Fed set for 17 Oct
US - The U.S. Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing on 17 October to consider two candidates for the Federal Reserve Board, a Senate aide said on Friday 12 October.
EU candidates told not to focus only on inflation
UK - Central banks in countries seeking to join the European Union should ensure that their battle against inflation doesn't harm economic growth, a senior official at the European Central Bank said.
Fed's Ferguson - Long term US econ prospects sound
US - Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Roger Ferguson on Tuesday said the U.S. economy's longer-term prospects "remain sound," but said it is not known how long it will be before U.S. economic growth begins to recover from the events of 11 September.
ECB's Issing: Unlikely HICP below 2% by end 2001
GERMANY - European Central Bank Chief Economist and Executive Board member Otmar Issing said Monday 15 October that third quarter euro-zone growth figures to be published by Eurostat in December aren't likely to be encouraging.
Deadline passes for banks to meet new rules
BRAZIL - Last Friday 12 October saw the passage of the deadline for banks to meet the decision of the National Monetary Council (CMN), taken at its last meeting, demanding that the institutions have more equity to meet operations with foreign exchange…
Egypt's central bank deputy becomes temporary head
EGYPT - Egypt's deputy central bank governor, Mahmoud Abu Al-Ayoun, is standing in as the governor of the bank until a new one is appointed to replace Ismail Hassan, a central bank official said Monday 15 October.
BOE Oct minutes: MPC voted 8-1 to cut repo rate
UK - The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted 8-1 to cut the repo rate by a quarter percentage point to 4.5% in October, just weeks after it had cut rates by an equal amount in a 7-2 vote, according to minutes of those meetings released…
Why China needs a real central bank
ARTICLE - On paper, the People's Bank of China is in charge of monetary affairs - In reality, its authority is emasculated by party politics - a huge liability as WTO entry nears.
Discussion paper from the Bank of England
RESEARCH - Bank of England External MPC Unit Discussion Paper No.6 by Nicoletta Batini and Edward Nelson, October 2001, Friedman Revisited.
Discussion paper from the Bank of England
RESEARCH - Bank of England External MPC Unit Discussion Paper No.5 by Bennett T. McCallum and Edward Nelson, October 2001, Monetary Policy for an Open Economy.
Bank of Japan Monthly Economic Report
MONTHLY REPORT - The Bank of Japan today published its regular Monthly Report of Recent Economic and Financial Developments, October 2001.
Speech by Laurence Meyer of the Federal Reserve
SPEECH - Remarks by Governor Laurence H. Meyer, at the Bank Administration Institute's Conference on Risk Management, New York, NY, 15 October.
Speech by Lars Heikensten of Sweden's central bank
SPEECH - Speech by First Deputy Governor of Sveriges Riksbank, Sweden's central bank, Lars Heikensten at the Swedish Taxpayers Association, 80th anniversary, Stockholm International Fair, 4 October.
Meyer: Basel rules take time, need bank support
US - New rules on risk management and bank capital standards will take longer to set up than either banks or regulators want but they are too complicated to rush, Federal Reserve Governor Laurence Meyer said in a speech on Monday 15 October.
Sharp fall in UK inflation revealed
UK - The headline rate of UK inflation, which includes mortgage interest payments, fell last month by 0.4 of a percentage point to 1.7%.
Conference targets terror funds
CANADA - An international conference on money laundering opens in Montreal late on Monday 15 October, aimed at helping countries harmonise their approaches to tackling the issue.
Bank of Japan issues grim outlook
JAPAN - The Bank of Japan, as widely expected, downgraded its assessment of the economy, citing a continued tumble in output and exports, deteriorating job and income conditions, and an increasingly bleak economic outlook following the 11 September…
Japan's central bank warns on economy
JAPAN - The Bank of Japan has warned that the country's economy is facing "more severe" adjustments, with the "terrorist attacks in the US... further [heightening] uncertainty".
Speech by Laurence Meyer of the Federal Reserve
SPEECH - Remarks by Governor Laurence H. Meyer of the Federal Reserve Board at the 52nd International Atlantic Economic Conference, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 12 October.
Prime candidate for Bank of England hot seat
ARTICLE - In all the turmoil over a momentous weekend, a valuable contribution to City gossip is in danger of being overlooked. The esteemed City chronicler, Christopher Fildes, reminded us in his Spectator column last week that the next big job vacancy…
Speech by Christian Noyer of the ECB
SPEECH - Speech by Mr. Christian Noyer, Vice-President of the European Central Bank, at the European Federation of Finance House Associations (EUROFINAS) conference, Warsaw, 15 October.
Banks tighten monitoring use of capital in Taiwan
TAIWAN - Many banks in Taiwan will further tighten monitoring the movements of funds lent to enterprises to prevent borrowers from wiring the money they get from the banks abroad and then left their debts in Taiwan.