Interest rates
Credit card issuers to benefit from Fed rate cut
USA - Issuers of credit cards, hurt by concerns the weakening economy will ramp up charge-off rates, may get a respite from the latest round of interest rates cuts by the Federal Reserve.
Fed expected to cut rates by another half-point
US - The US Federal Reserve is poised to cut interest rates today for the tenth time this year, extending its most aggressive rate-cutting campaign in recent history amid yet more evidence of proliferating weakness in the world's economic power.
Buba Welteke - ECB rate policy no hinder to growth
GERMANY - The European Central Bank's interest rates aren't an obstacle to growth, long-term and real interest rates are low and the ECB must avoid letting long-term inflation expectations build up, Deutsche Bundesbank President Ernst Welteke repeated,…
Fed's Smith - Rates dominate credit card pricing
US - The Federal Reserve's director of consumer affairs told a house panel Thursday that interest rates have come to dominate pricing practices for credit cards in recent years, although there is little systematic information about other aspects of card…
India rates hit lowest level since 1970s
INDIA - Interest rates in India have slid to their lowest rate for almost 30 years after the country's central bank - Reserve Bank of India (RBI) - cut interest rates by half a percentage point.
ECB voting reform urgently needed economists claim
UK - The way in which the European Central Bank sets interest rates needs to be reformed urgently in order to prepare for enlargement of the European Union, a group of leading economists said.
Several ECB members wanted 11 Oct rate cut: Report
GERMANY - Several members of the European Central Bank's governing council wanted to cut interest rates at its 11 October meeting in Vienna, according to a report to be published late Monday in French daily Le Monde.
NIESR report - UK to avoid slide into recession
UK - The UK will weather a sharp global slowdown and there is no reason to cut interest rates further, according to a leading think-tank.
Canada cuts rates to lowest level in 40 years
CANADA - The Bank of Canada surprised the markets by cutting interest rates by three-quarters of a point to the lowest level in 40 years on Tuesday.
ECB leaves interest rates on hold
EUROPE - The European Central Bank has left interest rates unchanged at 3.75% on Thursday.
Expectations of rate cut up in ECB monthly report
GERMANY - The European Central Bank yesterday strengthened expectations that it will cut interest rates soon by saying the eurozone faced moderate inflationary pressures but continuing risks to economic growth.
Ecofin mins press rate cut case - ECB receptive
LUXEMBOURG - Euro zone finance ministers kept the heat on the European Central Bank to lower interest rates yesterday, Monday 15 October - and there are signs that central bankers may be sympathetic to their views.
BoE's Clementi says "clear downside risk" to rates
UK - Bank of England deputy governor David Clementi said on Friday there were "clear downside risks" to UK interest rates due to the slowing world economy, made worse by September's attacks on the United States.
B of E's George predicts 3-year downturn
UK - Sir Edward George hinted last night in a speech that he would back further cuts in interest rates and warned the global economic slowdown could last for three more years.
Poland's Miller denies plan to curb central bank
POLAND - Poland's Prime Minister designate Leszek Miller denied in a radio interview that his future coalition government had agreed to curb the central bank's independence if it does not cut interest rates by 600 basis points over the next six months,…
Eurozone interest rates remain unchanged
GERMANY - The European Central Bank (ECB) has left interest rates unchanged, despite growing pressure for a cut to boost the flagging eurozone economy.
BoE's Clementi makes no comment on future of rates
UK - Bank of England Deputy Governor David Clementi used a speech on Wednesday 10 October to discuss the international financial system, confounding rumours that he planned to signal the Bank would not cut interest rates again.
Australia RBA Stevens cautious on monetary policy
AUSTRALIA - Reserve Bank of Australia assistant governor Glenn Stevens struck a cautious note on monetary policy in a speech given on Wednesday, indicating that the actual level of interest rates is more important than changes in rates.
G7 leaders unite to overcome economic fallout
US - The chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, has said that the terror attacks on America have penalised the global economy in a manner similar to raising interest rates worldwide.
'No prior talks' on emergency interest rate cuts
UK - The world-wide cuts in interest rates in the wake of the terror attacks on New York and Washington was not coordinated in advance, according to a prominent former member of the Bank of England's policy-making Monetary Policy Committee.
Fed met on rates twice in wake of attacks
US - The U.S. Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee held two telephone conferences in the aftermath of the 11 September attacks in New York and Washington, agreeing unanimously on 17 September to cut interest rates sharply, according to minutes…
2.5% - US Interest rates at lowest since 1962
US - The US central bank, the Federal Reserve, has cut interest rate for the ninth time this year, by half a percentage point to 2.5%.
Australia slashes rates to a 29-year low of 4.5%
AUSTRALIA - Australia's central bank cut official interest rates on Wednesday 3 October by a quarter of a percentage point to a 29-year low of 4.5 percent in a bid to bolster the economy in an international downturn.
Monetary policy at centre stage
US - The US Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates by 50 basis points when it meets this week.