Inflation
BoE's King on UK inflation
In a speech given on 27 August Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, said that inflation expectations in the UK may shift significantly even if the cause of the change in prices is due to temporary factors.
Trichet reports upside risks to inflation outlook
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said Thursday 1 September that upside risks to price stability exist but there is no significant evidence of a build-up in underlying inflationary pressures.
FOMC Minutes, 9 August
Minutes from the Federal Reserve's 9 August meeting published on Tuesday 30 August. Most Federal Reserve policymakers expressed concern that inflation risks had "ticked up" recently, with some worrying that price increases were already at the upper end…
Experiences of inflation targeting
A new IMF paper examines the experiences of inflation targeting countries and presents a number of "stylised facts" and conclusions for policy makers.
Sweden leaves interest rate unchanged
The Swedish Riksbank kept the repo rate unchanged at 1.5% at its meeting on 23 August. CPI inflation remains low at 0.3% in the year to July, but it is expected to return to the target level of 2% over the next two years.
Inflation still below target in Israel
The Bank of Israel's inflation report for the first half of 2005 shows inflation below the lower limit of the target range, despite reductions in interest rates at the beginning of the year.
Fukui positive on economy, inflation
In a statement before a parliamentary committee on August 2, the governor of the Bank of Japan, Toshihiko Fukui, spoke of the country's improving economic situation and how the central bank's policies were adapting.
Fears over narrow inflation targets
Wolfgang Munchau criticises overemphasis on inflation targets in a column in the Financial Times. Inflation targets have done good work in bringing down inflation and inflation expectations, he says, but with that battle won, perhaps they are no longer…
Romania's central bank reports inflation falling
Romania's central bank governor said on Monday 15 August that the economy was growing strongly and he expected inflation to fall in the third quarter of this year.
Kansas Fed Paper on inflation targeters
The Kansas Fed Working Paper "Do we really know how inflation targeters set interest rates?" published July 2005 says under inflation targeting regimes other objectives that possibly conflict with the inflation goal are present.
RBA's Macfarlane on the Australian economy
In a statement to the House of Representatives given on 12 August Ian Macfarlane of the Reserve Bank of Australia said that inflation was largely under control and the economy strong.
Australian govt to quiz RBA chief on economy
Reserve Bank of Australia governor Ian Macfarlane will be grilled Friday 12 August on the chances of another rate rise, or possibly a rate cut, in coming months.
Bank of England Inflation Report, August 2005
The Bank of England published its August 2005 Inflation Report on 10 August. In the report the Bank said the UK's growth outlook has weakened slightly in the near term, pulled down by sluggish consumer spending.
RBI's Reddy says oil prices need careful response
Reserve Bank of India Governor Y.V. Reddy said on Wednesday 10 August that the central bank would carefully respond to volatile oil prices as it impacts inflation and the exchange rate.
Doubts on Bank of England's forecasting
Nobody could say that Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, was defensive at yesterday's press conference on the latest Inflation Report (who has ever seen Mervyn on the defensive?), but he certainly knew he had some explaining to do.
COMMENT BY CENTRALBANKNET
The fear that demand in many leading economies has been sustained only by a housing and real estate "bubble" is often seen as one of the biggest risks facing monetary policymakers.
IMF's Rato concludes Ukraine visit
Rodrigo de Rato, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, issued a statement Friday 5 August at the conclusion of his visit to Kiev. The IMF chief said he was confident on Ukraine's economic outlook.
The future of EMU: one size fits none?
According to the forthcoming edition of Central Banking, inflation and output gap differentials have grown between European states since the inception of the EMU in 1999. If these continue to worsen, the resulting tensions would put a big strain on…
RBA paper on underlying inflation
The Reserve Bank of Australia Discussion Paper "Underlying inflation: Concepts, measurement and performance" published on 21 July explores the concept of underlying inflation and the properties of various measures of underlying inflation in the…
UK's Brown expects ECB inflation target debate
UK chancellor Gordon Brown, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, told the European Parliament that debate over the European Central Bank's inflation target is to be expected.
Garganas says ECB may hike inflation forecast
"The oil price increases in recent weeks imply some upward revision to the main scenario for inflation," said Garganas, who is also the governor of the Bank of Greece, in an interview in Athens with Bloomberg.
Norges Bank Inflation Report, June 2005
Norway's central bank, Norges Bank, published its latest Inflation Report for June 2005 on Thursday 30 June. The Bank raised the sight deposit rate to 2% from 1.75% but conceded that recent developments such as weaker economic growth prospects for Europe…
Regulators probe King speech leak
UK City regulators are investigating a sharp rise in futures trading a few hours ahead of Bank of England governor Mervyn King's speech to Bradford business leaders last week.
Norway's Gjedrem on inflation targeting
In the speech 'Experiences with inflation targeting in Norway and other countries' given on 7 June, Svein Gjedrem of Norges Bank said in light of the experiences of different countries in the last 10-15 years, he is confident that flexible inflation…