Central Banking
Dinkic chides US for withholding data on Milosevic
A delegation of the Yugoslav National Bank returned from a recent visit to Washington with the impression that there could be snags in cooperation on an investigation into financial funds taken out of Yugoslavia during President Milosevic's regime,…
Kenya annual inflation falls to 6.0 pct in January
Kenya's annual inflation rate eased to 6.0 percent in January 2001 from 7.5 percent in December 2000 due to a fall in food and fuel prices, the central bank said on Feb. 6. "The general decline in inflationary pressure was mainly in the fall in the…
IMF warns on UK's euro plight
Britain's record as a high inflation country meant that the price of joining the single currency would be higher taxes or curbs on public spending, the International Monetary Fund warned on Feb. 6.Fuelling the intense political row over the euro, the…
IMF urges South Korea to fine-tune fiscal reform
Despite meeting international standards, the government needs to work harder to improve its fiscal transparency by being more specific in its fiscal reports and by simplifying its tax system, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Feb 6, 2001.The…
PBOC agrees to pursue interest rate stability
China's central bank will maintain interest stability in 2001, state media reported Feb. 5, 2001, citing a decision of the People's Bank of China banking and monetary policy committee. China Securities newspaper reported that at a recent quarterly…
Bank Negara reappoints Citibank as main dealer
Citibank announced on Feb. 5, 2001, its re-appointment by Bank Negara Malaysia for the year 2001 as a Principal Dealer of Malaysian Government Securities, Treasury Bills, Bank Negara Bills, Cagamas instruments, Khazanah Bonds and other approved…
IMF concerned on Bank Indonesia govt bond buying
Indonesia's chief economics minister said on Feb 5 the International Monetary Fund had objected to an amendment to the central bank law that would allow the institution to buy government bonds in the primary market. "The IMF disagreed...the central bank…
Austrian govt, c.bank at odds on forex reserves
Austrian Finance Minister Karl-Heinz Grasser clashed with the central bank on Feb. 5, 2001, when he called for up to $6.8 billion worth of its currency reserves to be used to cut the national debt or boost public spending. The deputy governor of the…
IMF says Norway economy to grow 2.4% in 2001
The International Monetary Fund said on Feb. 5, 2001, it foresaw continued good growth for Norway, the world's second-largest oil exporter, this year although at a slightly more modest clip than in 2000.The Fund expected Norwegian gross domestic product…
ECB Trichet-solid euro in interests of Europe -CNN
European Central Bank council member and Bank of France Governor Jean-Claude Trichet reiterated on Feb. 5, 2001, that a solid euro is in Europe's bests interests. "We call for a solid euro. A solid euro is in the interests of Europe," Trichet said in an…
Future Hungary c.bank head sets EMU roadmap
National Bank of Hungary (NBH) governor designate Zsigmond Jarai said on Feb 5., 2001, that Hungary must forge a path to join the euro zone, including two possible cuts in the monthly devaluation rate of the forint in 2001. "We should mark the route and…
Oil, gas exports up 62.8% in Iran - bank governor
Iran has gained some 18.575 billion U.S. dollars from exports of oil, oil derivatives and gas in the first nine months of the current Iranian year, up 62.8 percent compared with the same period last year, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported…
Zambia c.bnk imposes new rules to defend kwacha
The central Bank of Zambia on Feb. 5, 2001, imposed new rules to defend the battered kwacha, which it says is a victim of speculators and unscrupulous businessmen. In a statement, the bank said it had reduced overall foreign exchange exposure limits for…
Yugoslav substitution of DM for euro in Dec 1 '01
The substitution of the DEM with the Euro in Yugoslavia will start on December 1, 2001, the National Bank of Yugoslavia said on Feb. 5, 2001. The European Central Bank and other credit institutions in the Euro zone will begin the supply with euros to…
Hackers obliterate Egypt central bank website
Computer hackers have obliterated the website of the Egyptian central bank. The cyber attack was launched on the morning of Feb. 2, Ayman el-Sayed, the central bank's webmaster, said. "We are now implementing security measures to avoid this happening in…
'Comparing Financial Systems' by Allen and Gale
Most economic models focus on financial markets (organized markets for stocks, bonds, futures and options), as a means of allocating resources. Franklin Allen and Douglas Gale aim, in this book, to demonstrate how this is misplaced. By reviewing…
'The End of Finance' by Jan Toporowski
Toporowski tells us in his foreword that in a previous book (The Economics of Financial Markets and the 1987 Crash) he became so preoccupied with the crash that he 'omitted to include ... any general theory or explanation of stock market crashes in…
'Econ pol coordination in the Europe' by P Jacquet
"Economic policy co-ordination in the Euro zone: What has been achieved? What should be done?"In this pamphlet, French policy advisors Pierre Jacquet and Jean Pisani-Ferry review economic policy co-ordination since the Euro was launched and recommend…
'State of the world 2001' - Worldwatch Institute
The seventeenth annual State of the World focuses, as ever, on the big questions. The core subject is the global environment, but this is systematically linked with other major global issues. Member of the Worldwatch Institute contribute chapters on…
Radek Urban leaving Czech National Bank
Radek Urban has left the Czech National Bank where he was executive director of the financial markets department. On March 1 he will joining the asset management department of Ceska Sporitelna in Prague. Mr Urban has played a key role in developing the…
Philippines 1st e-Bank gets go-ahead for e-banking
The Philippines central bank has formally confirmed 1st e-Bank's authority to continue providing electronic banking services via its present cellphone banking system and soon a proposed Internet banking system, 1st e-Bank said in a statement. The BSP…
Thai c.bank chief may be next finmin - Thaksin
Thailand's incoming Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Feb. 2 he regarded Bank of Thailand governor Chatu Mongol Sonakul as a candidate for the job of finance minister in his three-party coalition government. Asked who he would pick as his finance…
Swedish Riksbank keeps interest rates unchanged
Sweden's central bank, the Riksbank, pointing to the global and Swedish economic slowdown, said on Feb 2, 2001, it left key interest rates unchanged as widely expected by financial markets. The Riksbank said the repo rate, its chief monetary policy…