News
Polish president debates new c.bank head next week
President Aleksander Kwasniewski will meet Poland's top three political parties next week to discuss candidates for the new central bank chief, opening the way for a parliamentary vote on the issue as soon as December 6-8.
Bank of Zambia will not intervene to help kwacha
The governor of the central bank of Zambia said on Friday he expected the kwacha to go on falling against the dollar and his bank would not waste resources on trying to intervene and stop the slide.
Nepal's central bank reforms financial institution
Nepal's central bank has worked out a reform program to speed up the reformation of the 121 financial institutions in Nepal that are mired in managerial problems, according to the bank's statement issued on Friday.
Taiwan cenbank warns speculators of potential risk
Taiwan central bank's abrupt easing of its efforts to defend the Taiwan dollar against the US dollar in yesterday's late trading session, has wrong-footed both institutional and individual speculators who tried to take advantage from the central bank's…
Basis for unified payment system in Russia
In December, the Interagency Smart Cards Commission will present a draft plan for putting together a unified payment system in Russia. The system will be based on the payment system of Sberbank, and the clearance and cash center of the central bank will…
Vietnam central bank liberalises payment fees
The Vietnamese central bank has decided to remove all limits on domestic and international payment fees charged by banks.
Greek banks to meet ECB reserve regulations
The Bank of Greece said on Friday that effective from 1 January 2001 Greek banks will have to meet European Central Bank regulations on their required reserves.
Polish central bank says no rate cut in Q1 2001
Polish central bank President Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz said on Friday she did not see scope for interest rate cuts in the first quarter of next year but hoped there was room for a cut by the end of the first half of 2001.
Heavy interest in seized Turkish banks
Turkey's banking watchdog on Friday said there is significant foreign and domestic interest in purchasing some of 10 banks with bad debts of $7bn that it has taken into receivership.
Kabila's Congo relaxes forex regulations
Democratic Republic of the Congo's central bank has eased restrictions on who can trade in foreign exchange and extended a list of transactions in which it can be used, state radio reported on Friday.
India's central bank urges state govts to reform
India's central bank on Friday urged the country's state governments to enact speedy reforms."As a result of financial sector reform, there are more stringent overall limits to fiscal expansion, impinging on both central and state governments," Reserve…
Morocco foreign reserves down 5.7% in September
Moroccan foreign reserves fell 5.5% to 55,860 million dirhams ($4.98bn) at the end of September compared with the same period last year, the entral bank said on Friday.
Gerashchenko wanted to keep PwC as auditors
Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, Friday approved Deloitte Touche as the central bank's auditor for 2000, replacing PricewaterhouseCooper's. Speaking after the vote, central bank governor Viktor Gerashchenko said he had hoped to retain…
Vietnam central bank agrees on bank merging plan
Vietnam's central bank has agreed in principle to the merger of two commercial banks but a final decision will be announced after merging procedures are completed, a bank official said on Friday.
India's RBI advocates cautious pension reform
The Indian government needs to move cautiously before letting the private sector manage pension funds, a top central bank official said on Friday.
IBRA speeds up sale of Salim corporate assets
The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) is speeding up the sale of corporate assets once owned by the Salim Group even as the two sides prepare to face off in a test of wills that could have severe ramifications for the country's economic…
Japan FRC head urges BOJ broad view on easing
Japan's top financial regulator on Friday urged the Bank of Japan to take a broad view in deciding whether or not to ease monetary policy, implying he favoured an easing.
Thai bank chief calls for focus on banking bills
Thailand's central bank governor Chatu Mongkol Sonakul on Friday urged the next government to treat as a priority the passing into law of pending banking legislation.
Indonesia: 'Halt the case against Sjahril'
A lawyer representing suspended Bank Indonesia governor Sjahril Sabirin in the Bank Bali scandal said on Friday that prosecution should be halted since other defendants in the case had been declared not guilty by a district court.
El Salvador to use dollar as 'parallel currency'
El Salvador will allow the US dollar to circulate freely alongside its own currency in the new year under a monetary law sent to Congress by the president on Thursday.
SAMA introduces sliding brokerage fees
The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency has introduced a new sliding scale of brokerage fees taking effect from 1 January 2001.
South Korea economy heads for slowdown
South Korea posted a strong growth rate of 9.2% in the third quarter, but analysts warn that the economy could begin looking much weaker in the fourth quarter because of increased bankruptcies for debt-heavy companies and resulting job losses.
Russia's gold reserves up on last week
Russia's gold and foreign currency reserves were $26.5bn on 17 November, up from $26bn on 10 November, the central bank said in a press release on Thursday.