Central Banking
Bank of Korea says fake note cases doubled in 2000
Due to the fast spread of computer scanners and colour printers, the number of note forgery cases more than doubled in 2000, the Bank of Korea said on Feb 8, 2001.The number of note counterfeiting cases jumped to 160 in 2000 from 68 cases in 1999, the…
Buenaventura appointment illegal-BSP says otherwis
Malacanang has been receiving reports Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Rafael Buenaventura may have been illegally appointed by former president Joseph Estrada under the Central Bank Act, presidential spokesman Renato Corona said in a radio…
Slowdown in the US Economy- HKMA's Joseph Yam
The suddenness of the recent slowdown in the US economy has taken many by surprise. But policymakers have plenty of scope for turning this inevitable adjustment into a more sustainable growth path. By Joseph Yam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary…
Tunisia GDP records 5 per cent growth in 2000
The Tunisian Central Bank governor, Mohamed Daoues, this morning presented to President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali the bank's year 2000 performance. The president was satisfied with the good results achieved by the Tunisian economy in 2000, as the overall…
'Monetary Union, Employment and Growth' -P. Padoan
"Monetary Union, Employment and Growth: The Impact of the Euro as a Global Currency", Edited by Pier Carlo Padoan, Professor of Economics, University of Rome 'La Sapienza', Italy and Director of Economic Studies, College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium. Below…
Information Technology and US Productivity Revival
Information Technology and the U.S. Productivity Revival: What Do the Industry Data Say? byKevin J. Stiroh at the New York Federal Reserve. This paper examines the link between information technology (IT) and the U.S. productivity revival in the late…
'Greenspan stirs a tempest' - John Berry
"Mr Greenspan sauntered up to the Hill and wasn't bashful about putting the Fed smack in the middle of the most controversial issue of the day", complained Senator Byron L. Dorgan of North Dakota. Whatever the wisdom of Greenspan's support for big…
Japan govt keeps heat on BOJ as economy struggles
Members of a government council pressed the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to boost the fragile economy through a monetary easing, minutes of an economic council meeting showed on Feb 7, 2001.The minutes were released two days ahead of a BOJ Policy Board meeting at…
ECB's Trichet - European growth to continue strong
European Central Bank council member and Bank of France governor Jean-Claude Trichet said on Feb. 7, 2000 growth in Europe will continue "at a reasonable, strong pace." There were, however, downside risks to real gross domestic product growth, he told a…
Aussie stays lumped with euro despite decisive RBA
Proactive policy action by the Reserve Bank failed to give the Australian dollar much of a lift on Feb. 7, 2001 with the unit undermined against the U.S. dollar by weakness in the euro and flows towards the yen. The half point rate cut by the RBA had…
Calls to unseat BSP chief Buenaventura grow louder
Calls for Bangko Sentral Gov. Rafael B. Buenaventura to resign grew louder even as the Macapagal-Arroyo administration vowed its support for measures to grant more powers to the central monetary authority. According to "BusinessWorld" magazine, a group…
Singapore banks eye new cap rules
Singapore banks, among the healthiest in Asia, should fare well against their regional competitors under a plan to strengthen international capital adequacy guidelines, the Monetary Authority of Singapore says. The proposal, unveiled recently by a Bank…
Treasury's O'Neill courts Wall Street on tax cuts
U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill courted Wall Street support on Feb 7, 2001 for President George W. Bush's $1.6 trillion tax cut plan, saying huge budget surpluses left ample room to give taxpayers a break. Bush is due to propose the cuts on Feb. 8…
Estonia c.bank Jan reserves down amid rules change
Estonia's central bank said on Feb. 7 its gold and foreign currency reserves dropped 14.4 percent in January 2001 from December 2000 as new regulations easing the use of commercial banks' mandatory reserves went into effect. The central bank said in a…
Burst IT-bubble temporary setback - Swedish c.bank
The information technology revolution will continue - despite the collapse of many IT stocks in 2000 - with unforseeable consequences for future economic policy, Sweden's central bank said on Feb 7, 2001. Riksbank governor Urban Backstrom made it clear…
Zimbabwe banks experience massive capital flight
Zimbabwe's banks, which for years have been the investor's first choice as they offered annual gains of up to 65 percent in interest, are now facing a massive capital flight to the equity market after cheaper funds made available by the Central Bank…
Czechs to mull foreign bond issue - Deputy FinMin
The Czech central bank (CNB) board should discuss at the beginning of March 2001 the possibility of tapping foreign markets for a bond issue, Deputy Finance Minister Eduard Janota said on Feb 7."We are analysing the current situation on the bond market…
IMF mission to meet Brazilian ministers
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission that recently arrived in Brazil will meet the Brazilian Minister of Finance Pedro Malan. The IMF mission, which will stay in Brazil until Feb. 16, 2001 has planned a meeting on Feb. 14 with Martus Tavares, the…
RBI eases bank export credit rules post-quake
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed banks to extend export loan maturities and waive some interest charges to exporters affected by last month's [January 2001] earthquake in the western India state of Gujarat. In a directive issued on Feb. 6 to…
Philippine president urges amendments to cbank law
The following is an excerpt from report in English by Philippine newspaper "The Philippine Star" web site on Feb. 7, 2001. The new Philippines President Arroyo urged Congress leaders yesterday to help the country regain investors' confidence by…
Iraq to cooperate with Lebanon on monetary issues
Al-Quds newspaper reports on an understanding signed at the beginning of July 2000 between the Central Bank of Iraq and Lebanese banks and financial institutions on closer commercial co-operation. The newspaper quotes from a statement by Central Bank of…
Bank of Lithuania forex reserves fall by 1.9%
Lithuania's official international reserves shrank by 25.4 million U.S. dollars, or 1.9 percent, over January 2001, measuring up at 1.333 billion dollars as of Feb. 1, the central Bank of Lithuania announced on Feb. 7. The Bank of Lithuania said it sold…
Bank of Estonia total assets down 6.5% in Jan 2001
The total assets of the Bank of Estonia declined by 6.5 percent during January to 16.1 billion kroons (USD 955 mln) at the end of the January 2001. The central bank's gold and currency reserve dropped by 2.2 billion kroons or 14.4 percent to 13.2 billion…
Gerashchenko sees no Russia banking crisis
There is currently no threat of a systemic banking crisis in Russia, Central Bank head Viktor Geraschenko said. "I don't think that a systemic crisis in the banking sector is possible for us right now," Geraschenko said in an interview.