Euro
IMF Statement - Economic Policies of the Euro Area
STATEMENT - Concluding Statement of the IMF Mission on the Economic Policies of the Euro Area, (in the Context of the 2002 Article IV Consultation Discussions with the Euro-Area Countries), 12 July.
European Central Bank Consultation Announcement
ANNOUNCEMENT - Oversight standards for euro retail payment systems, 8 July.
Friedman predicts euro's end within 15 years
GERMANY - The euro system will disintegrate within 15 years because of economic and cultural differences between member states, the Nobel Prize-winning US economist Milton Friedman says today, reported the UK's Independent newspaper on Thursday.
Eurosystem currency reserves unchanged this week
GERMANY - The European Central Bank said eurosystem net foreign currency reserves were virtually unchanged at 232.6 mln euro in the week ending 5 July.
MPs will quiz Brown on euro entry tests in autumn
UK - Gordon Brown is to face a Commons inquiry into the Treasury's five economic tests for euro entry after a hard-fought battle by opposition MPs to get the issue on the agenda.
Euro 'would boost UK by ending volatility'
UK - Entry into the euro would boost investment in Britain by ending exchange rate volatility in Britain's dominant export market, according to a paper published by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research on Thursday.
Bank of England News Release
NEWS RELEASE - Bank of England Euro Bills, 2 July.
Answering tough online questions in 11 languages
ARTICLE - The change-over to the euro at the start of this year posed numerous challenges not only for banks and businesses across much of Europe but, as the Financial Times investigated on Wednesday, it also posed problems for the team of writers,…
ECB Working Paper Series, No 154
WORKING PAPER - The Euro bloc, the Dollar bloc and the Yen bloc: how much monetary policy independence can exchange rate flexibility buy in an interdependent world?, by Marcel Fratzscher, June 2002.
Study claims UK's 5 euro tests are already met
UK - The government's five economic tests for UK entry to the euro have already been met, according to a new academic study.
Intervention pushes dollar back above 120
UK - The dollar surged back over 120 against the yen on Friday and made headway against the euro after Japan's finance ministry confirmed it had asked other central banks to intervene on its behalf to help weaken the Japanese currency.
Has the fourth euro entry test already been passed
UK - In all the coverage of Gordon Brown's Mansion House speech on Wednesday night, it went largely unnoticed that he had in effect declared that one of the five tests for euro entry had been passed. Friday's Financial Times picked up on the story.
ECB statistical press release
PRESS RELEASE - Monetary developments in the euro area, May 2002 released 27 June.
Does a floating currency buy flexibility?
RESEARCH - ECB WORKING PAPER by Marcel Fratzscher, June 2002"The Euro bloc, the Dollar bloc and the Yen bloc: how much monetary policy independence can exchange rate flexibility buy in an interdependent world?"(ECB Working Paper No. 154), (pdf 416 kB).
Euro goes to court over trade mark dispute
EUROPE - The European Commission will be forced to defend the design of the euro symbol in court today less than six months after the introduction of the single currency. The emblem has become the subject of a trademark battle with Thomas Cook and…
Interview - Luxembourg central bank's Yves Mersch
FEATURE - Luxembourg Central Bank governor Yves Mersch said the European Central Bank is awaiting hard evidence of an upturn in the euro zone's manufacturing sector before raising interest rates. In an interview with AFX News he also said the decision of…
Trichet says France wont balance budget by 2004
FRANCE - Jean-Claude Trichet, the governor of the Banque de France, suggested that it is unlikely that France will manage to clean up its budget deficit by 2004 when he agreed with finance minister Francis Mer's comments that to achieve this will take…
Eurozone inflation falls within ECB target of 2%
BELGIUM - Inflation in the euro zone slowed sharply to 2% in May, Eurostat confirmed on Tuesday. The drop put inflation within the upper limit of the European Central Bank's inflation target of 2%.
Quaden warns of Belgian budget deficit in 2003
BELGIUM - Guy Quaden, governor of the Belgian National Bank, has warned that Belgium may return to a budget deficit next year if the government eases spending controls to help it win elections: "In 2003, I will be very vigilant not only about inflation…
Speech Wim Duisenberg, ECB president, 13 June
SPEECH - In a speech on 'The euro as a catalyst for integration and competition in EMU', Wim Duisenberg talks about the link between European integration and the euro, explaining the need for further structural reforms and their importance for the smooth…
Eurozone inflation falls but M3 grows
GERMANY - A marked drop in euro zone inflation in May strengthened beliefs that the ECB will hold fire on interest rates, although its key money gauge M3 moved further away from its benchmark of 4.5%, growing to 7.5% from 7.3% in March.
Papademos to make ECB debut at Eurogroup as No.2
GERMANY - Incoming European Central Bank Vice President Lucas Papademos will make his debut as the bank's number two at the Eurogroup meeting of euro zone finance ministers in Luxembourg on Monday.
Speech by Sirkka Hamalainen of the ECB, 30 May
SPEECH - In a speech titled 'The role of the euro in global capital markets' Hamalainen described the euro as a global currency and said that the aim and goal of the Eurosystem should be to strengthen the integration and economic performance of the EU…
Eurozone current account moved to surplus in March
GERMANY - The euro zone had a current account surplus of 3.7 billion euros (3.4 billion dollars) in March, compared with a deficit of 600 million euros a year earlier, data published by the European Central Bank on Wednesday showed.