News/Monetary Policy
Pakistan savers' money at risk
PAKISTAN - About 90,000 savers in Pakistan can't get at their money temporarily as the central bank examines a merger in the sector.
Welteke - ECB focus is inflation, not growth
GERMANY - Ernst Welteke, member of the European Central Bank council, on 29 August said there were signs of a possible recovery of the euro zone's largest economy, but stressed the ECB's main task was to control inflation and not stimulate growth.
IMF to cut global forecasts
US - The IMF has cut its forecast for world economic growth this year to 2.8% from 3.2%, Reuters reported on 29 August citing unnamed sources at the international lender.
Hayami - Absolutely wrong to say BOJ OKs deflation
JAPAN - Bank of Japan Governor Masaru Hayami 29 August shot down suggestions the central bank is tolerating Japan's severe deflationary environment, Kyodo News reported.
Montenegro to introduce two-currency system
YUGOSLAVIA - The Montenegrin government will introduce a two-currency system in the republic, including the German mark and the euro, on January 1, 2002.
E Timor rushes to build new monetary system
ASIA-PACIFIC - E Timor rushes to build new monetary system - The region has never had a central bank and must create it from scratch, writes Joe Leahy.
U.S. coins to cease circulation in Cuba
UNITED STATES - U.S. dollar coins will be taken out of circulation from the Cuban foreign currency commercial network as of October, the island's Central Bank reported 28 August.
Greece says readying for countdown to euro switch
GREECE - Greece, the euro zone's 12th member since January this year, is getting ready for a euro information blitz in the months ahead to familiarise citizens with the single currency changeover.
Brazil cenbank chief to meet IMF's Fischer
BRAZIL - Brazilian Central Bank President Arminio Fraga will leave for Washington D.C. today, 28 August, to meet with the outgoing No.2 official at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the bank said on 27 August.
U.S. risks inflation in rebound - Milton Friedman
UNITED STATES - The United States should pull out of recession in 2002 but will have to keep an eye on inflation when it does, Nobel prize-winning economist Milton Friedman said in an interview published on 27 August.
Hungary PM nominates new monetary council member
HUNGARY - Prime Minister Viktor Orban has nominated Tamas Karo, a U.S.-Hungarian dual citizen and a personal advisor to the President of Hungary, to the National Bank of Hungary's Monetary Council, state news agency MTI says.
Changeover to euro not to create hidden pressure
EUROPE - The changeover to the euro should not create hidden inflationary pressures or VAT increase, President of the European Parliament Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, Christa Randzio-Plath, said, referring to European Central Bank (ECB)…
Dual currency system to be in place in Montenegro
YUGOSLAVIA - The Central Bank of Montenegro has drawn up a plan for the transition from the German mark to the euro, which will last from the beginning of the next year until June.
Bank of Korea gov to attend Kansas fed symposium
SOUTH KOREA - Bank of Korea Govenor Chon Chol-hwan will begin a six-day visit to Kansas City on 29 August to attend a symposium organised by the U.S. city's Federal Reserve Bank (FRB).
Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee
REPORT - A meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee was held in the offices of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, D.C., beginning on Tuesday, June 26, 2001, at 2:00 p.m. and continuing on Wednesday, June 27, 2001, at…
German wise man eyes lower GDP, ECB rates
GERMANY - Bert Ruerup, one of the German government's five economic advisers or "wise men", cut his forecast on 23 August for German growth in 2001 and said the way was clear for the European Central Bank to cut interest rates.
Pre - euro flood of forgeries is feared
EUROPE - Gangs of counterfeiters are set to offload fake francs, D-Marks and other eurozone currencies before the changeover to euro notes and coins in January, retailers have been warned.
C Bank of Lebanon launches new composite index
LEBANON - Banque du Liban launched a new composite index on 22 August, 2001.
Copom keep rates unchanged at 19% per year
BRAZIL - If the economic climate in Argentina is enough to keep the Central Bank in a state of alert, Brazil's weak second quarter GDP data only added to its concerns about the future of the Brazilian economy.
Australian economy 'immune' to turmoil - Costello
AUSTRALIA - Australia would be immune to looming global economic turmoil, Australian Treasurer Peter Costello said yesterday as the threat of recession looms larger for the US. Mr Costello predicted Australia would top the world economic growth table…
Phil Fed - Economists cut US growth forecasts
US - The world's largest economy is likely to grow sluggishly for the rest of this year but will pick up again in 2002, according to a Federal Reserve bank survey of private forecasters released today, 23 August.
EMU debate crucial to long term health of Swedish
SWEDEN - With the Swedish krona suffering from classic symptoms of a small European currency remaining outside of European Monetary Union, its best hope of a sustained recovery may be an acceleration of the EMU debate and entry process, analysts say.
German growth slows to zero
GERMANY - Official figures confirmed the fact that the German economy slowed to a halt in the second quarter of the year.
Hayami - BOJ won't adopt managed inflation policy
JAPAN - The Bank of Japan can't adopt high inflation targets that would involve measures to artificially reflate the economy, the central bank governor said 23 August.