Euro
Euro-zone inflation climbs to 1.9 per cent in July
BELGIUM - Inflation in the 12-nation euro zone edged up to 1.9 per cent in July compared with the same month in 2001, the statistics body Eurostat reported on Wednesday, citing provisional figures.
Interest rates in europe left unchanged
GERMANY - The European Central Bank on Thursday kept interest rates unchanged for the ninth month in a row amid uncertainty over the impact of turbulent financial markets and a stronger euro on Europe's slowly recovering economy.
Euro-zone current account moves to surplus in May
GERMANY - The current account for the 12-nation euro zone showed a surplus of 100 million euros (dollars) in May compared with a deficit of 2.2 billion euros in May 2001, the European Central Bank reported Friday.
Monetary developments in the euro area
REPORT - Monetary developments in the euro area: June 2002, released 25 July. The annual rate of growth of M3 decreased to 7.1% in June 2002, from 7.7% in May (revised downwards from 7.8%). The three-month average of the annual growth rates of M3 over…
Euro members told not to over inflate accounts
GERMANY - European countries which have ditched their national currencies in favour of the euro have been told they cannot use unreturned national cash to improve their budgets.
Poll shows UK public would defy gov't euro support
UK - Public opinion would remain opposed to Britain joining the euro - even if the government recommended it, according to the latest opinion poll from NOP.
Bank of France's Trichet sees euro zone growth
FRANCE - Bank of France governor Jean-Claude Trichet urged investors to "stay calm" during the slump in global financial markets, saying Wednesday that the downturn should not prevent growth in the 12-nation euro zone.
European Central Bank Press Release
PRESS RELEASE - Euro Area Securities Issues Statistics, May 2002. Released 22 July.
Euro did cause price prices - Eurostat
GERMANY - The changeover to euro banknotes and coins might have added as much as 0.2 percentage points to eurozone inflation in the first half of this year, Eurostat, the European Union's statistical agency, said on Wednesday.
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…