Reserves
Iceland cbank intervenes anew as crown falls more
Iceland's central bank said on Jan. 25 it intervened in the local foreign exchange market for the second day in a row, buying one billion Icelandic crowns ($11.51 million) to halt the crown's recent slide.
Kuwait helps defend Lebanese pound with $100m
Kuwait has decided to deposit $100 million with Lebanon's central bank to help defend the Lebanese pound and raise depleted foreign reserves, the office of Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri said on Jan. 25.Hariri's office said that the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab…
IMF welcomes Sri Lankan rupee free float
The International Monetary Fund Jan. 24 welcomed Sri Lanka's free float of the local currency, saying the exchange rate could now be determined more freely by market forces. "The new exchange rate arrangement is in keeping with the broader reform agenda…
Lithuanian cbank considers litas law draft
Lithuania's central bank said on Jan. 24 its board would consider draft amendments to a law on Jan. 25 aimed at clearing the path for a shift in the litas currency's peg to the euro from the dollar. The Bank of Lithuania is looking to shift the peg on or…
Uganda c.bank sells $5m to support the shilling
The Central Bank of Uganda on Jan. 24, 2001, sold $5m to an interbank market already well supplied with dollars in an attempt to strengthen the shilling, dealers said. The shilling closed the day marginally up at 1,810/55 from a morning opening of 1,835…
Jakarta says FX rules allow for interest rate cuts
Indonesia's chief economics minister said on Jan.24 the central bank's new forex rules would ease inflationary pressure, which would give room for the bank to cut interest rates. "Pressure from imported inflation should ease. This should allow (the…
UAE tightens up on forex
The UAE central bank has issued new directives raising the minimum capital for a new exchange house with limited liability to $13.6m, and the same sum for an existing exchange house to change its status to limited liability. In addition this capital must…
Slovenia should insist on IMF formula
There are no sound reasons for changing the IMF formula to divide the assets which used to belong to the former Yugoslavia and are currently deposited in the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), said the parliamentary finance committee on Jan. 24.
Sylvia Piterman leaves Bank of Israel
Sylvia Piterman, who has worked at the Bank of Israel for over 25 years,and almost 10 of those years as Director of the Foreign CurrencyDepartment, will be leaving the bank in the very near future. Following herdeparture Mr. Barry Topf will become Acting…
Venezuela: Crawling pegged rate system retained
According to a Venezuela Online News web site on Jan. 17, the Central Bank of Venezeula (BCV) has indicated that it will maintain the band system in currency exchange in order to control the depreciation of the bolivar. The bolivar will thus remain…
China central bank researchers urge wide yuan band
Researchers at China's central bank are urging a sharply wider trading range for the yuan of 10 to 15 percent up or down, the first time anyone connected to the bank has offered a specific band width for the Chinese currency.
Venezuela president sees fixed rate for bolivar
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez predicted the country's currency, the bolivar, will be fixed against the dollar some time in the future, according to a report Dec 29 in local daily El Universal.
Asean members sign new swap agreement
The 10 Asean members signed a new Asean Swap Arrangement (ASA) in November, providing a total of US$1 billion of financial support, said Bank Negara Malaysia in a statement on Dec 29, 2000.
Philippine c.bank to tap its forex reserves
The Philippine Central Bank said it will tap its foreign-exchange reserves to pay maturing obligations in the first half of 2001. At the same time, the central bank said it will postpone indefinitely a plan to borrow funds from a group of local and…
Banco de Mexico assigns $250 mln in put options
Banco de Mexico said on Dec 28 it placed all $250 million in dollar put options it had offered for January. The options had an average premium of 21.58 pesos per $1,000. The central bank said in a statement that there were four institutions that placed…
Zambia technical group to probe kwacha weakness
Zambian Finance Minister Katele Kalumba said on Dec 22 the government had appointed a technical committee to study the kwacha's weakness and recommend ways to stabilise the currency.
China cbank spokesman on management of gold
A spokesman for the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said Dec 22 that without authorization from the State Council and ratification of the PBOC, no institutions or organizations are allowed to organize gold trading market.
Indonesia c.bank, dealers discuss forex rules
Indonesia's central bank met dealers from foreign and local banks on Dec 22 to discuss forex trading rules but little was decided, one banking source at the meeting said.
India's exchange rate policy and control
This article by S Tarapore originally printed in the Business Standard looks at India's exchnage rate policy and control.
Kenyan shilling weakens further on IMF concerns
The Kenyan shilling extended its decline against the dollar but at a slower pace on Dec 22 amid continued concerns about the future of Kenya's IMF aid programmme, dealers said.
Algerian debt falls sharply, foreign reserves rise
Algeria's foreign exchange reserves rose to $9,691 million in October 2000, a 120 per cent increase on the foreign exchange reserves held at the end of 1999, figures published in the December 2000 edition of the IMF's International Financial Statistics …
Taiwan banks ordered to stop forex forward trading
Taiwan's central bank has ordered three foreign banks and one domestic bank, which were allegedly engaged in foreign currency manipulation, to suspend their foreign currency forward transactions, according to banking sources.