Interest rates
ECB Press Release - Monetary policy decisions
ECB PRESS RELEASE - At today's meeting the Governing Council of the ECB decided that the minimum bid rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 3.75%,…
Euro zone rates kept on hold
EUROPE - The European Central Bank (ECB) has kept eurozone interest rates on hold.
Bank had considered UK rate rise
UK - The Bank of England had been considering raising interest rates this month, minutes of a key meeting have revealed.
US and ECB slash rates 0.5% to stabilise markets
INTEREST RATES - Monday 17 September saw both the ECB and US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 0.5 percent. The Us move failed to stop substantial falls on the US stock market.
Fed cuts rates but Wall Street plunges
US - Giving a sharp jolt to financial markets, the Federal Reserve cut US interest rates just one hour before the re-opening of Wall Street. (Later shares on Wall Street fell dramatically as the American markets opened after its near week long absence.)
ECB Duisenberg: Comment on the Fed rate cut
FINLAND - European Central Bank President Wim Duisenberg said Monday 17 September that he had been informed of the U.S. Federal Reserve decision to cut interest rates by 50 basis points, but declined to comment on the ECB's own plans.
ECB Press Release
PRESS RELEASE - ECB expresses its grief and holds interest rates steady for now.
UK interest rates kept on hold
UK - The Bank of England has left interest rates unchanged at 5% today, Thursday 6 Sep.
Australia lowers interest rates
AUSTRALIA - The Reserve Bank of Australia sliced interest rates by one-quarter percentage point on 5 September to offset weakening global economic activity and despite higher-than-forecast inflation.
ECB cuts interest rates
EUROPE - The European Central Bank has cut interest rates by a quarter of a point to 4.25%.
Brazil rates will only fall after energy crisis
BRAZIL - The government will only be able to cut interest rates when energy supplies return to normal, which will probably only be in the second quarter of 2002, said former Central Bank chairman Carlos Geraldo Langoni on 21 August.
Thailand rejects IMF interest rate advice
THAILAND - Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on 17 August rebuffed an IMF suggestion that Thailand should not rule out cutting interest rates, saying rates were already low enough despite the need to boost the faltering economy.
Bank split over rate cut
UK - The Bank of England's surprise cut in interest rates earlier this month on 2 August was approved by a six-to-three majority, minutes from the rate-setting meeting have revealed.
Surprise cut in UK interest rates
UK - The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has cut interest rates by 0.25%.
ECB leaves interest rates unchanged
GERMANY - The European Central Bank (ECB) left eurozone interest rates unchanged, despite evidence of an economic slowdown.
Takenaka 'not dissatisfied' with BOJ's decision
JAPAN - Heizo Takenaka, state minister in charge of economic and fiscal policy, said 13 July he is "not dissatisfied" with the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) decision to keep monetary policy unchanged.
Beware of Dr. Green and Mr. Span
US - Some pretty smart people are warning about the danger of playing with interest rates, comparing the nation's central bankers to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Call these critics the Alan Greenspan bashers, writes the Economist magazine 5 July.
Interest rate decisions due
EUROPE - The European Central Bank and the Bank of England will both, separately, make their latest interest rate decisions tomorrow, 5 July. Neither is expected to cut rates further.
Interest rate moves around the world
FEATURE - Yesterday, 27 June, the Federal Reserve reduced key US interest rates for the sixth time this year. Here we feature other recent interest rates moves around the world (among the other big central banks the Bank of England has held it's rate…
US rate cut to deter Thai outflows - Thai c.bank
THAILAND - The Thai central bank said on 28 June that the Federal Reserve's latest cut in U.S. interest rates would help deter the capital outflows from Thailand.
Fed set for fresh rate cut - but by how much?
US - The US central bank, the Federal Reserve, will announce today, 27 June, whether it has decided to cut interest rates further to boost the flagging American economy.
Bank of England minutes show rates firmly on hold
UK - The Bank of England has published the minutes to it's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held on 5 and 6 June. The minutes show that the MPC were strongly in favour of keeping interest rates on hold.
ECB keeps interest rates on hold
EUROPE - The European Central Bank has maintained the key interest rate for the 12 countries within the eurozone at 4.5%.
Bank of Japan research paper - zero interest rates
RESEARCH - The Bank of Japan has published a research paper 'Monetary Policy Under the Zero Interest Rate Constraint and Balance Sheet Adjustment'. The paper is written by Masaaki Shirakawa, advisor to the governor, Bank of Japan.