Monetary policy
UK MPC member says further rate cuts not ruled out
UK - UK interest rates may still fall again if the world economy takes a turn for the worse, while the first increase in borrowing costs could be some way off, a member of Britain's monetary policy team told the Times.
Bank of Japan Monetary Policy Meetings, 11 April
NEWS RELEASE - At the Monetary Policy Meeting held today, the Bank of Japan decided, by unanimous vote, to maintain the following guideline for money market operations for the intermeeting period:
Polish MPC member says gov't missed reform chance
POLAND - A member of Poland's ten strong Monetary Policy Council, Boguslaw Grabowski, has said that Poland's leftist government missed a great opportunity to make deep fiscal and structural reforms in the first months after taking power last October.
Norges Bank's press conference of 10 April
PRESS CONFERENCE - Monetary policy meeting of Norges Bank's Executive Board.
New BOJ policy members tread conventional lines
JAPAN - The Bank of Japan's newly appointed board members adopted a conventional line on monetary policy in their debut public appearance on Friday, in stark contrast to a maverick pro-easing member whom they replaced.
Speech by U Backstrom of Sveriges Riksbank, 19 Mar
SPEECH - "If resource utilization is more strained than the Riksbank now assumes or if potential growth has been overestimated, there is a risk of future inflation being higher than in the main scenario," Backstrom said in a speech following the release…
Summer changes expected on Bank's MPC committee
UK - Ian Plenderleith, a member of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee since its first meeting in June 1997, is to retire when his term finishes at the end of May.
Bank of England leaves key lending rate at 4.0 pct
UK - The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee on Thursday left its key lending rate unchanged at 4.0 percent for the fifth month in a row despite signs Europe's second biggest economy is recovering.
ECB Press Release
PRESS RELEASE - Monetary Policy Decisions, 4 April.
Speech by Paul Jenkins, Bank of Canada, 20 Mar
SPEECH - The speech was titled 'Global Economic and Financial Trends: Implications for Canadian Monetary Policy'. In the speech Jenkins took aim at the argument that the weak Canadian dollar reduces productivity growth.
BOJ board voted 8-1 to keep policy unchanged 8 Feb
JAPAN - The Bank of Japan's policy board, at a Feb. 8 meeting, voted 8-1 to keep the bank's monetary policy stance unchanged, the BOJ said Tuesday.
Monetary policy in a virtual economy, 27 March
FEATURE - The Reserve Bank launches a web-based monetary policy computer simulation game today whereby the player fights inflation by controlling interest rates in a virtual economy. You play the Governor of the central bank and failure to keep inflation…
Reserve Bank of New Zealand discussion papers
RESEARCH - Monetary policy and inflation forecasting with and without the output gap by Weshah Razzak, March 2002.
Speech by Sushil Wadhwani, Bank of England, 25 Mar
SPEECH - Wadnwani, known as an arch-dove for his views on interest rates has played down the danger of debt in Britain. Speaking to local business leaders in the north of England he also suggested that house prices might not be overvalued. The speech was…
Transparency doesn't mean full disclosure
GERMANY - Central bank transparency doesn't mean communicating the exact timing and scope of changes in monetary policy to markets, according to European Central Bank executive board member Sirkka Haemaelaeinen.
Minutes of Japan's Monetary Policy Meeting
MINUTES - Bank of Japan Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes from the 7 and 8 February, released 26 March.
MPC over-estimates inflation threat, research says
UK - The Bank of England's monetary policy committee has consistently over-estimated the threat of higher inflation, according to research to be presented today at the Royal Economic Society's annual conference.
Bank of Japan Monetary Policy Meetings, 20 March
NEWS RELEASE - At the Monetary Policy Meeting held today, the Bank of Japan decided, by majority vote, to maintain the following guideline for money market operations for the intermeeting period:
Fed discussed dropping its tilt towards rate cuts
US - The Federal Reserve considered "unconventional" actions at its January monetary policy meeting in case its anti-recession campaign did not work and discussed abandoning its official leaning towards cutting short-term interest rates, minutes released…
Bank of Japan leaves monetary policy unchanged
JAPAN - The Bank of Japan left monetary policy unchanged on Wednesday but said that if necessary it would provide extra liquidity to secure financial market stability towards the end of the fiscal year.
Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee Minutes
MINUTES - Minutes from the MPC meeting 6-7 March, released 20 March.
MPC unanimity points to end of easing
UK - The interest-rate easing cycle may finally be over in the U.K. That seems the conclusion to be drawn from the latest set of Monetary Policy Committee meeting minutes, released by the Bank of England Wednesday. In a speech given Tuesday the Bank of…
Speech by Svein Gjedrem of Norges Bank, 14 Mar
SPEECH - In a speech titled 'Monetary policy and wealth management' Gjedrem said "The Norwegian loan and capital market probably has weaknesses nevertheless, with thin securities markets and little breadth in investor and owner environments compared with…
US Nobel laureate praises China's monetary policy
CHINA - Nobel Laureate Robert Mundell has praised China's monetary policy as "excellent" in a recent interview.